Cuba has reinserted the goal of “advancing towards a communist society” into the draft of the country’s new constitution after its removal from the first version had sparked concern among thousands of citizens, state-run television said.

The national assembly is debating a revised draft of the constitution, designed to replace a Soviet-era one to better reflect the times, for example acknowledging private property and opening the door to same-sex marriage.

Cuba is one of a handful of countries worldwide still run by the Communist Party and has insisted its one-party socialist system is irrevocable.

Still, the commission writing the new constitution, headed by party chief Raul Castro, took the mention of “communism” out of the first draft that it published in July and put to a nationwide, three-month popular consultation.

Thousands of citizens at community-level meetings then called for it to be re-inserted, according to Cuba’s state broadcaster, and as a result it was re-inserted into the draft now under debate by the national assembly.

“The true revolutionary is the one who always looks to overcome the limits of the possible and that is why we must maintain this aspiration (to communism),” lawmaker Yusuam Palacios told the assembly.

The inclusion of “communism” is one of 760 changes to the first draft made on the back of the popular consultation.

The government has insisted the drafting of the constitution is participatory democracy at its best, while critics point out that the fundamentals of the Cuban system were never up for discussion and say its methodology is questionable.

Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Show all 15 1 /15 Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Mountains seen from La Plata, in the Sierra Maestra, Cuba REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Workers take a break as they build a house at a farm in the village of Santo Domingo REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Mechanic Dayan Nunes, 20, sits on a donkey in the village of La Merced REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains People watch the recording of an episode of the popular TV show ‘Palmas y Canas’ in the village of Providencia REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Farmer Alexander Castillo, 37, talks to a friend at the doorstep of his home in the village of Santo Domingo REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains A horse stands in the mountains near the village of Santo Domingo REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains The village of Santo Domingo is seen in the Sierra Maestra REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Bananas are being prepared for lunch in the kitchen of a house in the village of Santo Domingo REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Farmer Luca Castillo, 84, poses for a photograph in front of his home in the village of Santo Domingo, in the Sierra Maestra REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains A chef sits in a food station during the recording of an episode of the popular TV show ‘Palmas y Canas’ in the village of Providencia REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains People attend the recording of an episode of the popular TV show ‘Palmas y Canas’ in the village of Providencia REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Hipolito Marrero, 83, smokes a cigar as he commutes on horseback in the mountains near the village of Santo Domingo REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Farmer Javier Tamayo, 55, rides his horse in the mountains near the village of Santo Domingo REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains Local official guide Luis Enrique Perez closes a window of the house where the late president Fidel Castro lived in the village of La Plata during the Cuban revolution REUTERS Castro revolution lives on in the Cuban Sierra Maestra mountains A boy raises the Cuban flag during a daily ceremony held at a school in the village of Santo Domingo, in the Sierra Maestra, Cuba Reuters

If this latest draft passes, as expected, a national assembly vote before Christmas, it will go to a nationwide referendum on 24 February 2019.