Cuban voters elect new parliament

There was no doubt that voters in Castro's home district would re-elect him on Sunday to the National Assembly, where he must hold a seat to be eligible to stay on as chief of the island's governing body, the Council of State.

Still unknown, however, is whether the assembly will choose Castro as council president when it convenes for the first time on 24th February, or whether the bearded revolutionary will step down after nearly 50 years at Cuba's helm.

Cuban officials say they support Castro's continued presidency, but Castro himself has hinted at retirement, without making his intentions clear.

In December, he wrote that he has no intention of standing in the way of a new generation of leaders. Last week, he said he was not well enough to speak to the voters in his district in the eastern city of Santiago.

"I do what I can: I write," he added in an essay published in official media, seeming frustrated. "Writing is not the same as speaking."

On Sunday, Castro cast his ballot as he convalesced at an undisclosed location.

He provisionally ceded power to his younger brother Raul in July 2006 following emergency intestinal surgeries, but remained head of the Council of State.

Election officials picked up Castro's sealed ballot and ceremoniously delivered it to a polling place near the Plaza of the Revolution, the seat of government power in Havana.

Castro, who has been sidelined from power for nearly 18 months following major intestinal surgery, was among 614 uncontested candidates for the legislature which will name 31 lawmakers to the Council of State led by the President.

The communist leader, who took power in 1959, had given contradictory signals about his plans for the future.

In December, he announced for the first time that he would not "cling to power" or obstruct the rise of a new generation of leaders. - DDNEWS