Cubans choose new parliament

Cubans today ratified a raft of candidates, including Fidel Castro, for a new parliament that will reveal if the ailing 81-year-old will continue as head of state or be replaced by his younger brother Raul.

Only one candidate appeared on the ballot for each district post and no campaigning was allowed. The Communist Party was the only party permitted to run in the election – although membership is not a prerequisite to serve in the rubber-stamp legislature.

Cubans lined up before dawn to cast their ballots. Some 8.4 million voters are being asked to back 614 top communists, politicians, musicians and athletes for posts in the legislature, known as the National Assembly.

Castro, the island’s unchallenged leader since 1959, last week wrote that he is too sick to campaign for re-election or to address the Cuban people in person. He has not been seen publicly for nearly 18 months and provisionally ceded power to his brother in July 2006, following emergency intestinal surgeries.

Castro has remained the head of the Council of State, the island’s supreme governing body regardless, and re-election to parliament makes him eligible to be named to the post again this year.

Castro’s younger brother Raul, who has been governing during Fidel’s illness, announced that the new parliament will meet on February 24 and declare a new Council of State, including if Fidel will maintain his top post.

Cuban officials say Fidel Castro remains involved in government affairs, though apparently in an advisory role as day-to-day matters are handled by the Raul’s caretaker government and other top officials.

Raul Castro, 76, was the first to cast his ballot when polls near Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution opened. He would not say if his brother wants to remain as head of state or retire permanently.

“We have to face different situations and great decisions,” he said.

Recuperating in a secret location, Fidel Castro confirmed in a statement read on state television that he had voted, using a special ballot election officials had delivered.

When Cuba last voted for a new parliament in 2003, Castro voted in his district in the eastern city of Santiago, the only place his name appears on the ballot. Six weeks later, he was tapped by the newly chosen parliament for a sixth term atop the Council of State.

In December, Castro wrote in one of a series of essays published in state newspapers that he has no intention of clinging to power. But he also praised the example of a celebrated Brazilian architect who is still working at 100.

Among those seeking re-election was National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, who has said for months he will vote to keep Fidel Castro as head of the Council of State.

“You should have no doubt that he’s ready,” Alarcon told reporters. “He is in a position to continue that job, and the vast majority of Cuba will be more than happy (about that), myself included.”

Washington dismisses Cuban elections as a farce, but Havana counters that its balloting is more democratic than most because those running are chosen by municipal leaders nominated during neighbourhood gatherings.

“Looking at the US, it seems more like a popularity contest than elections,” said Vice President Carlos Lage. “These are elections without politics, without fraud, without money or propaganda campaigns, elections that are based on merit.”

Only about a third of the candidates running for parliament were returning members, a fact top Cuban leaders say means the legislature will be increasingly controlled by a new generation. Still, it was hard to find young voters excited about the election.

Officials said they expected more than 95% of voters to cast ballots.

Many Cubans feel compelled to vote to avoid unwanted attention from pro-government neighbourhood watch committees, whose support can be needed to get jobs, housing or other official approvals.