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Cuba's Elections Planned For Sunday

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By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, The Associated Press

Published: January 19, 2008

HAVANA - There is no mudslinging or million-dollar war chest.

No party nominations, dirty tricks or battles for key endorsements.

In fact, there's no campaigning at all - and the most famous candidate, Fidel Castro, hasn't been seen in public for almost 18 months.

Still, more than 90 percent of voters are expected to turn out Sunday for parliamentary elections, a key step in determining whether the ailing Castro remains head of state.

Castro, 81, is up for re-election to the legislature, as is his younger brother Raul, who has run the government since July 2006.

Fidel Castro, who is recovering from an undisclosed illness, has been the island's unchallenged leader since the 1959 revolution that overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Castro wrote in December that he would not cling to power or stand in the way of new generations, but he has not indicated whether he would step aside permanently. He still heads the Council of State, Cuba's top governing body, and re-election to the parliament is a necessity if he wants to retain that post.

New lawmakers have 45 days following the election to choose a new Council of State from their members, meaning a decision on whether Castro will remain its president - or retire - could come by March.

The Communist Party is the only party allowed. Instead of campaigning, candidates' resumes, including those of the Castro brothers, were published in state-run newspapers and posted at polling places.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper dismissed the island's electoral process, saying "these elections are not a break with past practice in Cuba and do not represent a real opportunity for the Cuban people to decide for themselves how they will be governed and who will govern them."

Cuban officials insist their very orderly elections are more democratic than the rambunctious sort taking place in the United States.

"Although in Cuba parties don't exist and we don't do campaigns, there's very active participation from our population," Maria Esther Reus, head of Cuba's National Electoral Commission, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

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