HAVANA, Cuba (AP) --The father of Elian Gonzalez, President Fidel Castro, an Olympic
track medalist and a popular folk singer are on the ballot for Cuba's parliament in
Sunday elections.

Candidates for the 609 seats run unopposed, leading critics to complain
elections on the communist Caribbean island are meaningless. A recent
pro-democracy petition, signed by thousands of Cubans, requested election
reforms but was ignored by the government.

Castro -- a member of the unicameral National Assembly along with being
president for 44 years -- claims the country's vote is more democratic than
those of other nations because voter turnout is high and campaigns do not
involve large amounts of money and propaganda.

This year, the president called on Cuba's more than 8 million voters to go to the
polls and vote "united" for all candidates listed on their ballots.

The ballots only contain names of candidates for that particular district. Voters
can mark or leave blank the circle next to each candidate, but this year there is
an additional circle for a united vote ballot, signifying support for all the district's
candidates.

"An energetic and resounding victory is needed to show the enemy our force
and unity," Castro said late Saturday on state television.

Internationally renowned dissident Oswaldo Paya, a leading organizer of the
Varela Project petition, said during a visit to Mexico last week that the elections
are "neither constitutional nor legitimate."

New electoral laws are among the reforms sought by Varela Project organizers,
who in May gave the National Assembly a petition signed by 11,020 voters
asking for a pro-democracy referendum. The National Assembly leadership
never responded.

Among the parliament's duties are the approval of laws proposed by Cuba's
ruling Council of State, headed by Castro. It also reconfirms Castro's
presidency in the weeks after the general elections, which happen roughly every
five years.

A first round of balloting in October elected members of Cuba's municipal
assemblies. Fifty percent of the parliamentary candidates on the Sunday ballots
were chosen from municipal assembly members.

The other half include many nationally known figures, such as Juan Miguel
Gonzalez, father of Elian, the Cuban boy at the heart of the international child
custody battle in 2000.

Other candidates include Cuba's hurricane expert Jose Rubiera, whom
islanders watch on state television; track star Ana Fidelia Quirot, who won a
bronze Olympic medal in 1992; Culture Minister Abel Prieto; Havana city
historian Eusebio Leal; and world renowned folk singer Silvio Rodriguez.

Because half the candidates are chosen at the grass-roots level, Jose Luis
Toledo, a lawmaker and dean of the University of Havana's Law School,
characterized the elections as "truly democratic."

"Alongside a great scientist, there could be a sugar cane cutter or a baker"
among the candidates, Toledo said.

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.