Word: votes
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...last thing on Min Soe's mind was casting a vote. Cyclone Nargis had just razed his house and ravaged the rice paddies that were to provide half of his yearly income. Nearly all the other wooden shacks in his village of Too Chaung had also been annihilated by the storm. Then, on May 10, representatives from Burma's repressive military junta descended on the village. Were they coming to bring badly needed food, water and building materials to the people of Too Chaung? Hardly. Instead, the government men forced villagers to participate in a constitutional referendum that critics have...
...poorest and most backward countries. Yet the efficiency with which the military has shepherded people to polling stations proves that the junta has plenty of organizational capacity. But for Burma's junta, saving the lives of cyclone Nargis' victims isn't as big a priority as conducting a sham vote. The heartlessness is staggering...
Even in the state-run newspapers, stories about the cyclone shared ample space with articles extolling the glories of conducting a referendum. The junta promises that the vote will usher in what it calls a "discipline-flourishing democracy." But the legitimacy of the plebiscite is further undercut by the fact that criticizing the constitutional draft is a crime. Nevertheless, some democracy activists have used the cyclone to register their opposition to the charter. Over the past several evenings, as large swaths of Rangoon remain dark because of downed electricity lines, a rash of spray-painted "x" marks have materialized, symbolizing...
...before the referendum, a truck mounted with a loudspeaker patrolled villages near Rangoon, broadcasting a folk-style song composed in honor of the upcoming vote. Government officials standing on the back of the truck had another message as well: free transportation in trucks would be provided to villagers who didn't live within walking distance of the nearest polling station. Imagine if those trucks had been redeployed instead for the cyclone relief effort. Or if foreign NGOs were given permission to enter the country and coordinate aid work-something that is happening at a glacial pace...
...Since the March 29 vote, the security services and militias calling themselves veterans of Zimbabwe's Independence War have fanned out across the country, intimidating, beating and killing opposition supporters and others suspected of disloyalty to the regime. The M.D.C. says around 32 of its members have died, although it is impossible to verify these claims. The repression seems aimed at cowing the country into "supporting" Mugabe, enabling him to make a spectacular comeback in any presidential run-off. Under Zimbabwe's electoral law, if no candidate wins the support of more than 50% of the electorate, the two leading...