Cuban lawmakers meet to name president
HAVANA (AP) - February 24, 2008 Castro was among the 614 members of parliament elected on Jan.
20 but his seat was empty. As the names of the new National
Assembly's members were read aloud, mention of the absent Castro
drew a standing ovation.
Lawmakers gave another standing ovation to Castro's 76-year-old
brother Raul, who is expected to be named president. The younger
Castro has headed Cuba's caretaker government for 19 months, ever
since Fidel announced he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery
and was provisionally ceding his powers.
The parliament will choose a new, 31-member Council of State to
lead the country. The council's president serves as the country's
head of state and government.
Fidel 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.
Castro wrote in an essay published 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."
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Associated Press writer Anne-Marie Garcia contributed to this
report from Santiago, Cuba.
