Havana, April 18 (RHC)-- The 9th legislature of the Cuban National Assembly of Peoples Power (ANPP) was installed Wednesday in a solemn session, with the taking of oath of the deputies who will represent the island´s people over the next five years.

Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, head of the National Electoral Commission, appointed each of the 605 deputies who makes up the new legislature gathered in the plenary hall of Havana´s Convention Center.

Army General Raul Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, was the first to show his election certificate before the rest of the deputies. 

As part of the opening session, the youngest deputy, 19-year-old Leidymara Cárdenas Isasi, from the municipality of Jovellanos in Matanzas province, read the oath on behalf of all deputies.

The deputies committed themselves to respect and enforce the Constitution, the laws and other legal rules of the Cuban State, behave as faithful servants of the people and the community and comply with their obligations as elected officials.

During the session Esteban Lazo Hernandez, Ana María Mari Machado and Miriam Brito Sarroca, were respectively reelected as President, Vice Presidents and Secretary of the Parliament.

With one hundred percent of the valid votes cast, Lazo Hernández was elected to a second term as head of the Cuban legislature. Lazo Hernandez has been in office for the past five years, a period where he has enhanced the work of National Assembly.

Te president of the National Candidacy Commission, Gisela Duarte Vázquez, highlighted  in the plenary the efforts made by the re-elected president to improve the functioning of the organs of the People's Power.

Progress in the legislative work complements the political assessment of his performance, said Duarte Vázquez.

Deputy since 1981, Esteban Lazo Hernández has been a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and has extensive leadership experience.

Ana María Mari Machado, who has been Vice-President of the Parliament since 2012, has a vast experience as official and has had good results in her work in the previous legislature.

Mari Machado is a lawyer by training and has held various positions in the people's court system, from the municipality to the vice-presidency of the People's Supreme Court.

She chaired the National Elections Commission in 2010, has been a member of parliament since 2003 and a member of the Party Central Committee since 2011.

Miriam Brito Sarroca, a member of parliament since 1998 with extensive management experience, was ratified for a third term as The National Asembly's Secretary.

The National Cndidacy Commission consulted widely with the 605 deputies to obtain the maximum amount of information and consensus on the elected representatives, taking into account their merits, capacity,and vocation to serve the people.