Burma's Constitution Vote Goes Ahead Despite Cyclone Devastation

Burma's ruling military leaders pressed ahead with voting on a new constitution across much of the country Saturday, as survivors of last week's devastating cyclone awaited aid shipments.

By VOA News

10 May 2008
Source: VOA.com

Category: stories

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Burma's ruling military leaders pressed ahead with voting on a new constitution across much of the country Saturday, as survivors of last week's devastating cyclone awaited aid shipments.

The storm that wreaked havoc on Burma's Irrawaddy delta region last Saturday has left a huge casualty toll - at least 62,000 people dead or missing, and possibly many thousands of other victims who have not yet been counted.

Voting was postponed for two weeks in the worst-hit areas, but the referendum went forward in more than half the country on Saturday, as originally scheduled. Voters who contacted VOA's Burmese Service afterwards said security forces watched closely at many locations as people marked their ballots with a yes-or-no vote on the new constitution.

The generals who rule Burma have pressed for a big vote in favor of the new charter, which opponents say will only strengthen the military's hold over the country.

In some areas, supporters of Burma's leading opposition group, the National League for Democracy said they were able to watch the vote-counting process at polling stations. In other places, only government employees and security forces were present for the vote count. Local officials said they had been told to forward their tallies to the military government's headquarters at Najpidaw, but there is no word on when any results will be released.

Other reports tell of obvious intimidation of voters at various polling stations around the country. One caller told VOA's Burmese Service fighting broke out between opposition members and government election workers in at least one location, but the incident has not been confirmed.

The opposition National League for Democracy had urged the Burmese people to vote against the new constitution. The NLD rejects the military government's contention that the new charter is part of the so-called "road map to democracy" plan that will lead to general elections in Burma in 2010.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has launched a worldwide appeal for more than 185 million dollars in emergency aid for the victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma. U.N. officials have urged Burma's military leaders to ease bureaucratic obstacles that have delayed the arrival of aid shipments.

An American philanthropic group, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has donated one million dollars to support the emergency relief response.

Officials from the U.N. World Food Program say they are resuming air shipments to Rangoon, after suspending food deliveries earlier in the week, when Burmese troops seized relief supplies before U.N. staff could begin distributing it to cyclone victims.

American government officials say the Burmese authorities have agreed to allow one U.S. military plane to land in Rangoon on Monday to deliver relief supplies.

Burma's rulers have insisted that only Burmese nationals - usually soldiers - may be used to distribute relief supplies, and they have issued only a few visas to foreign aid workers.

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