Miguel Diaz-Canel replaced Raul Castro as the new leader of Cuba after the country's National Assembly of People's Power approved his candidacy for the post of the president of the Cuban Council of State.
Diaz-Canel, who has served as the first deputy president of the Council of State, was officially nominated for the position of the head of the governmental body at the parliamentary session on Wednesday. During the same session, the lawmakers held a vote on Diaz-Canel's candidacy.
The vote's results were announced during the second day of the parliamentary session on Thursday.
The council of 31 deputies, made of workers, students, women, and peasants, confirmed the nomination of Miguel Diaz-Canel, pan-Latin American media network teleSUR reported.
Under the Cuban legislation, the president and members of the Council of State are elected by the parliamentarians after a special commission holds a meeting with every candidate and submits the final list for voting by the lawmakers.
President Mario Diaz-Canel has made his first speech as Cuba's new head of state with a pledge to continue the socialist revolution led by his predecessors Fidel and Raul Castro.
Diaz-Canel, praising the reforms he ushered in as president, said Castro would remain the leader of the revolution and would be involved in major decisions.
"Raul as the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party will lead the decision-making process over issues, which are the most important for country's present and future ... Raul remains on the political scene due to his merits ... Raul is the best follower of [Fidel] Castro. He took over the leadership of the revolution in a difficult economic situation and managed to overcome personal pain and fulfill his duty," Diaz-Canel said.
First Secretary of Cuba's Communist Party Raul Castro addressed the assembly after the election of Diaz-Canel. Castro says he sees new Diaz-Canel as his eventual successor as head of the island's Communist Party.
"From that point on, I will be just another soldier defending this revolution," Castro added.
Raul Castro, 86, became the head of the Cuban state in 2008, prior to which he had been the acting president of Cuba's Council of State for two years after the resignation of his older brother and Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel. After being re-elected as head of Cuba in 2013, Raul Castro stated that he would not seek another re-election in 2018.
Thursday's session was held on the 57th anniversary of Cuba's 1961 defeat of a CIA-backed Cuban exile invasion at the Bay of Pigs, a victory that Havana celebrates as a symbol of its resistance to imperialist pressure for change from Washington.
