(1 Aug 2009)
1. Mid shot of Cuban president Raul Castro entering Cuban National Assembly and waving, AUDIO: applause
2. Wide shot assembly members standing and clapping
3. Pull-out of Cuban flags and national emblem
4. Pan from former president Fidel Castro's empty chair to Raul Castro seated next to empty chair
5. Close-up of Fidel Castro's empty chair
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricardo Alarcon, Cuban National Assembly President:
"The real participation of society in our work is what gives this assembly its truly representative character."
7. Wide of assembly members raising hands for vote
8. Wide of vote
9. Close-up of Raul Castro voting with raised hand
10. Pan of assembly
STORYLINE:
Cuba's parliament convened in the capital Havana on Saturday for one of its two full yearly sessions.
As usual, the chair that Fidel Castro used to occupy was left empty, the fifth such meeting of the Communist nation's legislature without the ailing leader.
President Raul Castro sat in his customary seat just to the left of the one normally used by his brother.
National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon opened the session calling for the release of five Cubans held in US prisons for the past 11 years for spying.
Foreign media on the Communist island were given access to the assembly for the first two hours when votes supporting the imprisoned agents and another creating a system of national museums were held.
Officials said the rest of the session would deal with the creation of a new office of comptroller to tackle corruption in government offices.
The national assembly came as central planners dropped 2009 growth projections from 2.5 percent to 1.7 percent.
That's down from a high of 12.5 percent in 2006 - and from projections as recently as December that Cuba would grow six percent this year.
By most forms of accounting, performance would be lower, because Cuba counts as output all state spending on free health care and education, as well as the subsidised food it gives citizens in monthly ration books and other social programmes.
Cuba has not faced truly dire straits since what it calls the "special period," when the collapse of the Soviet Union brought the island's economy to its knees in the early 1990s, making food and fuel scarce and prompting hours-long blackouts.
Raul Castro, elected President in February of 2008, has adopted a more collaborative leadership style since assuming power, delegating more responsibilities and calling for more public debate than his brother.
Fidel Castro still remains as the island's top party official retaining his post as Secretary General of the Communist Party.
The 82-year-old has not been seen in public for three years and his medical condition remains a closely guarded state secret.
The nearly 500 members of the National Assembly are directly elected every five years in district balloting.
Although Communist Party membership is not required to run, no other political parties are recognised in Cuba and deputies often run unopposed.
The National Assembly elects Cuba's governing body, the Council of State, including its president.
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