No campaigns, only one party in Cuban elections

[robcon]

Source: Reuters (Yahoo)

HAVANA (Reuters) - There are no campaigns or TV ads and only one party gets to field candidates in Sunday's local elections in communist Cuba, the first without ailing Fidel Castro in charge.
ADVERTISEMENT

Yet Cubans are expected to turn out massively to elect 15,236 municipal council members in a pyramidal voting process that will culminate in a new National Assembly in March.

The legislature, a rubber-stamp parliament until now, could well become an important resonance chamber for debate on Cuba's future as the 81-year-old Castro, who has led the country since a 1959 revolution, fades from the political stage.

With Castro sidelined by illness and his low-profile brother Raul Castro running Cuba since last year, the Communist Party has urged young Cubans to stand in this year's elections to pump new blood into the country's political leadership.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071017/wl_nm/cuba_elections_dc_1;_ylt=Amoe70sWD2jLNhkBesroadAE1vAI

---

Same old, same old for the Cuban "elections."

[bluestateguy]

1. Castro apologists should be arriving on this thread in 3...2...1...

nt

[GeminiProgressive]

2. Never been there so can't comment on elections

but in all fairness supposedly the party cannot nominate candidates and candidates dont have to be party members. That is in theory of course. More information would be interesting!

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Taking a while

Maybe you scared them off! :)

[razors edge]

3. Relative of previous ruler a shoe in,

sounds familiar. We could save a lot of time, money, and headaches by just following their lead.

[GeminiProgressive]

4. LOL.

[DumpDavisHogg]

5. Is this anything like that House "election" in Georgia recently?

You know, the one where the only 2 candidates were ReTHUGlicans?

[Joe Chi Minh]

7. Great!