HAVANA, (Reuters) – Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s political career may go on for a while, at least symbolically, even though he no longer holds the country’s top political positions.
He is still a member of the National Assembly and yesterday was nominated for another term, despite not having attended any regular sessions during the current legislature and the fact that he is rarely seen or heard from anymore.
Elections for a single slate of deputies for the single chamber legislature are held every five years, with the candidates nominated by municipal governments after selection by commissions.
The election is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2013.
“The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, will head up the representation of 25 candidates to the Cuban parliament for the Santiago de Cuba municipality,” Cuban television said yesterday.
Castro, 86, handed over the presidency to his brother Raul in 2008, and the younger brother, 81, succeeded him as First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party in 2011.
The elder Castro underwent life-threatening intestinal surgery in 2006, from which he never fully recovered.
Castro nevertheless was elected to the National Assembly in 2008, his seat on the podium next to his brother Raul remaining empty ever since. Raul Castro was also nominated as a deputy yesterday. To formally remain president he must be a deputy in the assembly.