Cuban Polls May Lead to New President

From the Financial Times:

Cubans go to the polls on Sunday as the western hemisphere’s only one-party state begins an electoral cycle that may well result in a new president for the first time since Fidel Castro was named to the post in 1976. Cuba’s tiny illegal but tolerated opposition groups are boycotting the process, calling it a fraud because citizens have a direct choice only at the neighborhood level and the government controls the media. There are no presidential candidates or political campaigns, no public discussion over who might take over from Mr Castro, and turnout is traditionally more than 95 per cent. Elections are about character, not politics, according to the Communist party, which insists it is banned from organized participation, though members can run and take most seats at all levels of government. “I’ll vote for whoever is running. All are good and will have the same possibility and problems accomplishing anything,” said university student Rebeca Durrsy, shopping at a produce market within sight of Revolution Palace, headquarters of both the Communist party and the Council of State. Another shopper, 40-year old Roberto, did not give his full name. “I don’t care who wins … I’ll vote anyway to avoid being seen as a problem where I live,” he said. President Castro, 81, “temporarily” ceded power to his brother Raúl, five years his junior, in July 2006 to undergo the first of at least three major abdominal surgeries for an undisclosed illness. Fidel appeared alert, but frail and in no shape to govern in a 17-minute video released last weekend from whereabouts unknown. Analysts say he may not be healthy enough to seek re-election next year, although any political uncertainty around the presidential vote will be stripped out of the process through layers of representation before then. “It seems the perfect moment, and only moment for five more years, for the party to make the changes in the government nature has forced upon it. The question is will they, and if so what happens to Fidel? Will Raúl or someone else replace him? And who now becomes first vice president?” a European diplomat said. But few analysts believe a change at the top will result in a political opening. Despite official encouragement of discussion of the country’s economic problems at tens of thousands of grass roots meetings across the country in recent months, the debate did not spill over into September’s ward delegate nomination meetings which were dull early evening affairs where residents nominated their candidates with a show of hands. “Since Raúl Castro has opened the door to dialogue about Cuba’s economic problems, many Cubans have increased hopes for change but remain unable to register their true feelings at the ballot box,” says Daniel Erickson, who heads up Caribbean affairs at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue group. “Still, the ward elections will set in motion a process to reshuffle Cuba’s communist leadership at a moment when Fidel Castro’s illness has generated huge doubts about the country’s future - which makes them a significant political event despite their democratic deficit,” he said.

Other “election” coverage from Reuters, BBC, BBC Mundo, Guardian, and VOA

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