Jan 20, 2008 10:00 pm US/Eastern
Fidel Castro Unopposed In Assembly Elections
HAVANA (CBS4) ―
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Fidel Castro, Cuban leader, speaking on Cuban tv on June 5, 2007.
AP
Preliminary results are expected Monday in Cuba's National Assembly elections, but some outcomes are a foregone conclusion.
Despite his ill health, and the fact that he hasn't been seen in public for nearly a year and half, Fidel Castro, Cuba's unchallenged "Maximum Leader" was once again the only candidate for his post.
Castro, who has been unchallenged since 1959, has remained head of the Council of State, the island's governing body, and re-election to parliament from Santiago in eastern Cuba makes him eligible to be named to the post again.
Sunday, Cubans lined before dawn to cast their ballots in the election. Some 8.4 million voters were being asked to back 614 top Communists, career politicians, musicians and athletes for posts in the legislature, known as the National Assembly. Fidel Castro said in a note read on state television that he voted after electoral officials brought a special ballot to the undisclosed location where he is recuperating.
Electoral officials said an estimated 95 percent of registered voters had cast ballots as of an hour before polling stations closed Sunday evening.
Candidates lose if they do not get more than 50 percent of the vote, although National Assembly officials don't remember that happening since Cubans began voting for parliament in 1993.
Castro's younger brother Raul, who has been governing during
Fidel's illness, announced that the new parliament will meet February
24th and declare a new Council of State. The elder Castro has run unopposed for council head in past parliament votes, but Raul did not say whether he would again be named council leader or retire.
"We have to face different situations and great decisions," he said.
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 said. "He is in a position to continue that job, and the vast majority of Cuba will be more than happy (about that), myself included."
The U.S. government and opposition leaders have dismissed the elections as a sham. The Cuban government counters that its balloting is more democratic than most because those running are chosen by municipal leaders nominated during neighborhood gatherings.
"Looking at the United States, it seems more like a popularity contest then elections," said Vice President Carlos Lage. "These are elections without politics, without fraud, without money nor propaganda campaigns and elections that are based on merit."
Voters at district polling places overseen by schoolchildren were strongly encouraged to check a single box supporting the full slate of candidates, although if they object to some candidates, they can mark individual boxes by names they support and leave others blank.
Many Cubans feel compelled to vote because failing to do so can draw unwanted attention from pro-government neighborhood watch committees, whose support can be needed to get jobs, housing or other official approvals.
A new parliament is elected every five years.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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