Havana, Cuba.- Cuban lawmakers began studying on Wednesday at the current session of the National Assembly the draft of new Constitution that suffered profound changes after it was put to popular consultation.

The debate began after Secretary of the Council of State and member of the commission in charge of writing the constitution, Homero Acosta, presented it last night.

The MPs will continue tomorrow studying the document before the start on Friday of the second ordinary period of the 9th Legislature, in which the new constitutional draft will be discussed at the plenary prior to submitting it to voting. Once passed by Parliament, the proposal will be put to a national referendum.

From August 13 to November 15, almost nine million Cubans participated in a consultation to comment on the initial project – backed in July in Parliament – in which they issued 783,000 opinions and proposals.

In statements to Prensa Latina, Lawmakers Raul Alejandro Palmero and Ulises Guilarte, both members of the drafting committee of the new Constitution, highlighted the democratic nature of the process, in particular the participation of students and workers.

Yesterday, Acosta informed during the presentation of the summary of the new document that 783,000 proposals made by the people turned into 9,600 changes to the initial draft.

Of these, four thousand 809 opinions are reflected in the new version, which represents something more than 50 percent acceptance, he said.

The secretary of the Council of State explained that the fact of accepting these criteria does not necessarily mean that its incorporation into the document will be final, although in some cases it will.