Cuba to Hold Parliamentary Elections

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 as head of state.

The 81-year-old Castro 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 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 one allowed and while candidates do not have to be members, they are the only ones who reach leadership positions. Instead of campaigning, candidates' resumes - including those of the Castro brothers - were published in state-run newspapers and posted at polling places.

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," said Maria Esther Reus, head of Cuba's National Electoral Commission, in an interview with The Associated Press.

But Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a dissident who was sentenced to 20 years in prison during a crackdown in 2003, said high turnout rates create the impression of "false unanimity."

Espinosa Chepe, who was freed on medical parole, called Sunday's candidates "carefully chosen, loyal, star-lovers" who put the Communist Party and its leadership above all else.

According to Amarelis Perez of Cuba's Candidates' Commission, only 37 percent of those running for the 614-seat parliament are incumbents. She said 28 percent of candidates are "workers or peasants" and 43 percent are women.

Many Cubans privately complain about their country's political system, but finding those willing to do so openly is difficult.

"Every revolutionary has an obligation to vote," said Oramis Mirabal, a 26-year-old in Old Havana who said he felt "very represented" by Cuban lawmakers.

Cuba's 8.4 million voters are given a list of candidates - just one per post - and are strongly encouraged to check a single box supporting all of them. If they do not like one candidate or another, they can mark individual boxes next to names and leave others blank.

Candidates who don't get 50 percent of votes lose, and a special commission would meet to nominate a replacement, though National Assembly officials could not remember that happening since Cuba began directly electing its parliament in 1993.

Even voters profoundly disappointed with the system usually vote because failing to show up at the polls can draw unwanted attention from pro-government neighborhood watch committees whose support can be needed to get jobs, housing or other official approvals.

Critics urge disgruntled Cubans to turn in blank ballots. But during voting for municipal assemblies in October, Reus said 96 percent of eligible voters participated and 92 percent cast valid ballots. She suggested most of the other 4 percent who did not vote at all were probably too ill to go to the polls or were traveling.