Cuba begins its election process

Cuba begins its election process

Millions of Cubans have voted in municipal polls, starting an election
cycle that could decide if Fidel Castro will officially stay Cuba's
leader.

The electoral process will culminate next March in the election of a
new National Assembly.

The assembly will then choose the Council of State, which President
Fidel Castro has led since the early 1960s.

Mr Castro temporarily handed power to his younger brother, Raul, for
health reasons more than 14 months ago.

Cuban media reported that Fidel Castro, who last year had intestinal
surgery and has not been seen in public since, cast his own ballot in
private at the undisclosed location where he is recuperating.

Voting is not obligatory but Cuban officials said they expected there
had been a 90% turnout.

The communist government in Cuba describes its electoral system, which
was enshrined in the constitution of 1976, as one of the freest and
fairest in the world, where almost anyone can be elected to a
municipal council or national assembly seat.

'Cosmetic exercise'

However, critics like the US and the EU, along with dissidents on the
island, disagree.

They say the electoral process in Cuba is merely a cosmetic democratic
exercise, which has no place for government opponents, as it is fully
overseen by the country's ruling Communist Party.

The municipal elections for some 15,236 council members begins a
process that will culminate in a new National Assembly and the
selection of 31 members of Cuba's Council of State.

It could be then that a decision is taken on whether Raul Castro
should officially replace 81-year-old Fidel as president of the
island's supreme governing body.

Since Raul Castro took over as acting president at the end of July
last year, the status quo has reigned in Cuba and there has been no
sign that the ruling Communist Party has lost any of its hold on
power.

This is despite predictions to the contrary from Washington and the
leadership of the Cuban exile community in Miami.

But in a sign that it recognises its system is one primarily governed
by ageing revolutionaries, the Communist Party urged young Cubans to
stand for municipal council seats in the hope of pumping younger blood
into the government's ageing political structure.

On Wednesday, US President George W Bush is due to unveil what the
White House calls new initiatives to help Cubans push for democracy.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/7053170.stm

Published: 2007/10/22 07:37:10 GMT