The Cuban National Assembly on Thursday approved an amendment to the island’s general elections schedule, delaying the appointment of a successor to President Raul Castro from February to April 2018, state media reported.
The National Assembly will elect the State Council in charge of its role to elect the president on April 19 after it was scheduled for the end of February.
The postponement comes from February to April following the postponement of local elections this year, the first stage of the general election 2017-2018, after typhoon Irma who hit the island in September.
At the suggestion of the State Council, the National Assembly extended its mandate for two months with the start of its semi-annual session on Thursday.
Local elections in November and December will be followed by the election of about 600 deputies in the National Assembly, who will elect the state council, which will later elect the president. But the date for the election of deputies has not yet been determined.
The 86-year-old Castro has been president since 2008, having been in office for two years. He has announced that he will not run for a new term and will leave office for the new generation.
His departure ends six decades during which Fidel and Raul Castro ruled the island. But is expected to remain at the head of the Cuban Communist Party until the next conference scheduled in 2021.