Havana, June 4 (RHC) The National Assembly of People´s Power has appointed a commission that will draft a new constitution of Cuba.

The First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, Raul Castro, will head the 33-member legislative committee, with President Miguel Diaz-Canel as its deputy head.

The commission held its first meeting over the weekend.  Its members include several senior officials of the Communist Party and the government, representatives of the councils of State and Ministers in addition to the leaders of the main mass organizations of the Caribbean country.

The new Magna Carta will provide an updated legal framework for the ongoing economic transformation underway in Cuba.

In introducing the members of the commission during the extraordinary session of the parliament on Saturday, president Diaz Canel said it will take into consideration the "humanist and social justice principles of the revolution," as well as the "irreversibility of the socialist process, national unity and the role of the Communist Party as the country's leading force."

Diaz Canel told lawmakers that the commission will write a preliminary draft which will then be subjected to a national referendum.

"Let's work to achieve a constitutional norm that reflects the durability of a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable nation," he said.

The current constitution, adopted in 1976 and amended in 1978, 1992 and 2002, does not adequately respond to circumstances that have changed over time, the Cuban president added.

Since 2010, Cuba has launched numerous reforms aimed at modernizing the national economy while preserving its socialist ideals.