Posted on Tue, Nov. 20, 2007
By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA --
Cuba announced Tuesday it has set Jan. 20 for national elections that
are part of the process of determining whether ailing leader Fidel
Castro continues as president.
The ruling, signed by interim leader Raul Castro and read on state
television, set the date for elections to provincial and national
assemblies - voting that is held every five years.
There was no explicit mention of Fidel Castro, but the 81-year-old
leader of the Cuban Revolution must be re-elected to the national
parliament before he could repeat as president of the Council of State
to remain in full power.
Raul, 76, is the council's first vice president
The date for the national elections had not been previously announced,
but earlier indications were that the vote would not be held until March
or April. There was no word on why the balloting will be held in January.
Fidel Castro stepped aside on July 31, 2006, after undergoing emergency
intestinal surgery, provisionally ceding his powers to Raul and a team
of other top leaders. He has not been seen in public since, appearing
only in official photographs and videos and regularly writing essays
with mostly international themes.
The parliament, known in Cuba as the National Assembly, elects a new
council every five years, several weeks after deputies are elected. It
was not announced when the new National Assembly would meet for the
first time to renew the top council members.
The Constitution calls for the council's first vice president, currently
Raul, to fill the presidential slot when vacated. Fidel, Cuba's
unchallenged leader since 1959, held the council presidency since its
1976 creation.
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