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Burma Votes Amid Cyclone Chaos

Junta ignores calls to delay vote and focus on helping cyclone victims

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted May 10, 2008 6:49 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Burma plowed ahead with a referendum on its constitution today despite cyclone devastation that has left much of the country in ruins, AFP reports. The junta has postponed the vote for two weeks in the worst-hit areas, including the capital and the Irrawaddy delta, where hundreds of thousands have been left starving and homeless, with aid still only trickling in.

Burma hasn't voted since 1990, when, in a result the junta refused to accept, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected leader. Her party is urging voters to reject the constitution, which the regime says will clear the way for new elections in two years, and critics say will reinforce military rule. The opposition is barred from speaking or leafleting. Aid agencies and human rights groups slammed the generals' decision to go ahead with the vote and to continue barring foreign aid workers.

In this image provided by the German Relief organizations association 'Aktion Deutschland Hilft', a man cuts the trunk of a fallen tree in the city of Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 8, 2008.
In this image provided by the German Relief organizations association 'Aktion Deutschland Hilft', a man cuts the trunk of a fallen tree in the city of Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/Aktion Deutschland Hilft, HO)
In this photo released by the Democratic Voice of Burma an unidentified man votes Saturday, May 10, 2008, in Myanmar's controversial referendum at a polling station at Hlaeuk Township near Yangon.
In this photo released by the Democratic Voice of Burma an unidentified man votes Saturday, May 10, 2008, in Myanmar's controversial referendum at a polling station at Hlaeuk Township near Yangon.   (AP Photo/Democratic Voice of Burma, HO)
An elderly Burmesewoman lays waiting for help in a hut following last weekend's devastating cyclone, in Kun Chan Gone township, near Yangon, Myanmar Thursday, May 8, 2008.
An elderly Burmesewoman lays waiting for help in a hut following last weekend's devastating cyclone, in Kun Chan Gone township, near Yangon, Myanmar Thursday, May 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/Democratic Voice of Burma)
An unidentified man votes Saturday, May 10, 2008, in Myanmar's controversial referendum at a polling station in Hlaeuk Township near Yangon.
An unidentified man votes Saturday, May 10, 2008, in Myanmar's controversial referendum at a polling station in Hlaeuk Township near Yangon.   (AP Photo/ Democratic Voice of Burma)
Myanmar residents in Japan stage a rally against a referendum for a controversial proposed constitution despite a devastating cyclone.
Myanmar residents in Japan stage a rally against a referendum for a controversial proposed constitution despite a devastating cyclone.   (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
A Myanmar resident in Japan stages a rally against the military junta's decision to hold a referendum despite the devastation caused by a cyclone.
A Myanmar resident in Japan stages a rally against the military junta's decision to hold a referendum despite the devastation caused by a cyclone.   (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
Soldiers load bags of Myanmar bound supplies on to a truck at the military airport in Bangkok, Thailand Saturday, May 10, 2008.
Soldiers load bags of Myanmar bound supplies on to a truck at the military airport in Bangkok, Thailand Saturday, May 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
A Myanmar monk walks through the sleeping quarters of a temple damaged following last weekend's deadly cyclone on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on Saturday May 10, 2008. (AP Photo)
A Myanmar monk walks through the sleeping quarters of a temple damaged following last weekend's deadly cyclone on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on Saturday May 10, 2008. (AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
Myanmar monks pull a fallen tree up following last weekend's deadly cyclone on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on Saturday May 10, 2008. (AP Photo)
Myanmar monks pull a fallen tree up following last weekend's deadly cyclone on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on Saturday May 10, 2008. (AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
A statue of Buddha sits at a temple building with its roof damaged by cyclone Nargis as it hit Myanmar, in the outskirts of Yangon on Saturday May 10,2008. (AP Photo)
A statue of Buddha sits at a temple building with its roof damaged by cyclone Nargis as it hit Myanmar, in the outskirts of Yangon on Saturday May 10,2008. (AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
Myanmar people gather to receive free rice from the government after cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, in the outskirts of Yangon on Saturday May 10, 2008. (AP Photo)
Myanmar people gather to receive free rice from the government after cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, in the outskirts of Yangon on Saturday May 10, 2008. (AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
Cyclone survivors from Painnakon village camp sit together as they live in a tent on the roadside, after their houses were destroyed by the recent cyclone in Laputta, in Delta region, Myanmar, Friday, May 9, 2008. The villagers said the rest of the villagers, some 300, were either dead or...
Cyclone survivors from Painnakon village camp sit together as they live in a tent on the roadside, after their houses were destroyed by the recent cyclone in Laputta, in Delta region, Myanmar, Friday,...   (AP Photo)
In this image provided by the German Relief organizations association 'Aktion Deutschland Hilft', ADH, Friday, May 9, 2008, a woman stands with her children in their cyclone damaged home in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 8, 2008. Six days after Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar's western coast, the impoverished country's needs...
In this image provided by the German Relief organizations association 'Aktion Deutschland Hilft', ADH, Friday, May 9, 2008, a woman stands with her children in their cyclone damaged home in Yangon, Myanmar,...   (AP Photo/Aktion Deutschland Hilft, HO)
In this image provided by the German Relief organizations association 'Aktion Deutschland Hilft', Friday, May 9, 2008, a man rebuilds his hut in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 8, 2008.
In this image provided by the German Relief organizations association 'Aktion Deutschland Hilft', Friday, May 9, 2008, a man rebuilds his hut in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/Aktion Deutschland Hilft, HO)
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Military rules ignore calls to postpone referendum
Los Angeles Times

Facts about the Burmese referendum
Reuters

Aid shipments seized while country exports rice
Baltimore Sun

UN furious after junta confiscates aid
Guardian (UK)

 
cyclone • constitution • Myanmar • Burma • Aung San Suu Kyi • junta • Rangoon • referendum • Cyclone Nargis

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