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International

Cuban lawmakers to name President

PHOTO: AFP

AT THE HELM?: Cuban Acting President Raul Castro in this file photo.

HAVANA: Cuban lawmakers met on Sunday to name a head of state for the first time in nearly a half-century, just five days after Fidel Castro said he would not accept another term as President. Mr. Castro's seat was empty.

As the names of the National Assembly's 614 members were read aloud, mention of the absent Castro drew a standing ovation. Mr. Castro's ballot with his votes for governing Council of State members, including his replacement, was delivered to Parliament.

Parliament gave another standing ovation to Mr. Castro's 76-year-old brother Raul, Defence Minister, who is widely expected to be chosen to replace Mr. Castro as President.

The younger Castro has headed Cuba's caretaker government for 19 months, ever since Mr. Castro announced he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was provisionally ceding his powers.

The National Assembly, whose members were elected to five-year terms on January 20, will choose a new, 31-member Council of State and its President, who serves as the head of state and government.

Mr. Castro has held the position since the current government structure was created in 1976. For 18 years before that, he was Prime Minister — a post that no longer exists.

He remains the head of the Communist Party as First Secretary.

Mr. Castro wrote in an essay published on Friday that preparations for the Parliament meeting ''left me exhausted,'' and when he finally decided not to accept another presidential term, he did not regret it. ''I slept better than ever,'' he wrote. ''My conscience was clear and I promised myself a vacation.''

In the eastern Cuba district that Mr. Castro represents as a lawmaker, residents debated on Saturday who should replace him.

''Fidel is the greatest for us, but the most important thing now is that he rests and takes good care of himself,'' said 72-year-old Juan Alvarez. ''I think that he made an intelligent decision — like all the decisions he made'' since launching Cuba's revolution in the mid-1950s.

Mr. Alvarez said he would accept whoever is chosen by the National Assembly, ''and if it is Raul, well, that would be correct.'' — AP

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