MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Elections and further step for the Cuban regime transition

Raul Castro is looking after the shop while Fidel recovers

Cuba announced Tuesday it has set January 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 Cuban 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. In related news Maria Ester Reus, president of the National Electoral Commission (CEN), stated that Cuban municipal elections had a positive result, faced with the massive participation of people. "We term the process positive, because people voted with discipline and organization," said Reus after expressing that there were no incidents. CEN secretary Tomas Amaran reported that nearly 90.32% of 8,376,234 Cubans had already voted. All Cubans over 16 and with legal capacity to vote were called to elect 15,236 delegates to make up 169 Municipal Assemblies of the People's Power.