RAUL CASTRO OF CUBA PROPOSES 2 FIVE YEARS TERM LIMITS
HAVANA, Cuba - Raul Castro, the Cuban president, has proposed term limits for Cuban politicians which including himself; a remarkable gesture on an island ruled for 52 years by him and his brother.Castro said politicians and other important officials should be restricted to two, five-year terms, including "the current president of the Council of State and his ministers" -- a reference to himself.
The proposal was made on Saturday at the opening of the congress where delegates are meeting to ratify sweeping economic reforms proposed last year.- The 79-year-old president lamented the lack of young leaders in government, saying the country was paying the price for errors made in the past.
- Castro told delegates attending a crucial Communist Party summit that he would launch a "systematic rejuvenation" of the government.
The proposal was made at the latter stage of a two-and-a-half hour speech in which the Cuban leader forcefully backed a laundry list of economic changes to the country's socialist system, including the eventual elimination of the ration book and other subsidies, the decentralisation of the economy and a new reliance on supply and demand in some sectors.
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