Castro nominated for Cuban parliament
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Castro nominated for Cuban parliament
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
AP via Yahoo - Dec 2, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071202/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_castro
Castro nominated for Cuban parliament
By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA - Fidel Castro was nominated for a seat in Cuba's parliament
Sunday, leaving open the option for the ailing 81-year-old
revolutionary to stay on as the communist-run island's president.
A National Assembly seat is a prerequisite for seeking the presidency,
and if Castro had failed to be nominated it could have heralded a
decision to remove himself from the office after almost a half century
as Cuba's undisputed leader.
The Cuban leader was nominated Sunday by city council officials in his
eastern home province of Santiago, a step in a multitiered process that
will eventually determine his political status.
There was no immediate word on whether Castro will accept the
nomination. If he wins a parliament seat during national elections Jan.
20, he would remain in the running to retain the presidency of Cuba's
supreme governing body, the Council of State.
Castro still officially heads the council, but has not been seen in
public since emergency intestinal surgery forced him to cede power to a
provisional government run by his younger brother Raul in July 2006.
In recent government videos, the elder Castro has appeared lucid but
extremely frail. Cuban officials say he is recovering and on top of
political events.
Members of municipal assemblies across the island gathered to nominate
candidates for the 614-member parliament, which is known here as the
National Assembly and is chosen every five years.
Several weeks after a new assembly is chosen, its members convene to
select the Council of State. Castro has held the council's presidency
since it was created in 1976. Previously Cuba's prime minister, he has
been the nation's unchallenged leader since leading the 1959 revolution.
"He will have my two hands vote," National Assembly President Ricardo
Alarcon said in broken English, meaning he would raise both hands to
vote in favor of Castro as head of the council.
Vice President Carlos Lage said if Castro is a candidate for deputy, "I
am sure he will be elected."
Raul Castro, 76, is currently the Council of State's first vice
president, though he has run Cuba's government since his brother
stepped aside.
The elder Castro's illness and condition are state secrets.
Recuperating in an undisclosed location, he has been seen only in
official photographs and videos, though he also regularly released
essays on mostly international themes.
Even if Castro relinquishes the presidency, he could still play a key
role in the nation's leadership in his current position as Communist
Party general secretary " arguably a more politically powerful job " or
in a new emeritus position.
Detractors of Cuba's electoral process complain the country's president
is not directly elected by citizens and say voters feel heavy pressure
to support pro-government candidates.
Cuba claims its system is more democratic than most, as evidenced by
the more than 8.1 million voters " 95 percent of those registered " who
cast ballots in late October to elect more than 12,000 delegates to 169
municipal assemblies.
*
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (FreeBSD)
iD8DBQFHUzJPiz2i76ou9wQRAruiAKCOjxdOnhtmgeZdLIrh1U8KukUolACfVGUL
J0TGRcp3gwhgcTdBOyLF34g=
=HmTG
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:31:44 GMT
author: unknown
|
