CUBA:Fidel Castro will be in "perfect shape" to run for re-election to parliament next spring, the first step toward securing yet another term as Cuba's president, according to National Assembly leader Ricardo Alarcon.
"I would nominate him," said Mr Alarcon, the highest-ranking member of parliament.
"I'm sure he will be in perfect shape to continue handling his responsibilities."
Mobbed by foreign reporters following a parliamentary session to discuss Cuba's upcoming elections, Mr Alarcon said Castro "is doing fine and continuing to focus on recovery and rehabilitation".
He said a lengthy process of nominating candidates for municipal elections would begin this summer, leading to several rounds of voting. Then, by March 2008, Cuba should be ready to hold parliamentary elections that are expected to include Castro.
Only one political party, the Communist Party, is legal in Cuba. Parties that are banned include the Cuban Liberal Movement, the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba, and various socialist and social democratic parties regarded as "counter-revolutionary".
In the Czech Republic yesterday a group of pro-democracy activists protested against the absence of political freedoms in Cuba. The group included former Czech dissidents, who said they were supporting Cuban political prisoners' wives. A mock prison cell was erected in the centre of Prague, the Czech capital, and the protesters demanded the release of Cuban political prisoners.
The 80-year-old Castro was the world's longest ruling head of state, occupying the island's presidency for 47 years, before temporarily stepping aside in favour of his brother, Raúl (75), following emergency intestinal surgery in July.
Mr Alarcon said he had been in contact with Castro many times in recent weeks, but stopped short of saying he had seen him in person. Even though Castro ceded power to his brother he never "abandoned his role".
"Fidel has been and is very involved, very connected, very active, in all manner of important decisions that this country makes," Mr Alarcon said. "What's happening is he can't do it the same way he did before because he has to dedicate a good part of his time to recuperating physically."
Switching to English, Mr Alarcon said: "To what extent he will go back to doing things the way he did, the way he is accustomed to, it's up to him."
He would not say whether Raúl Castro would remain acting president if his brother became well enough to return to work full-time.