New Delhi
28 April 2008
Only a handful of Burmese nationals living in India voted in a
referendum on a new Constitution, fearing repercussion for rejecting it. Mostly Burmese
diplomats and their families cast their votes here from April 25 to 27, the Burmese
Embassy in New Delhi told this newspaper.
"Only a few Myanmarese Embassy staff and students voted," an Embassy source said.
"About 60 to 70 people, including the staff," the source replied when asked to put a
number on the turnout. The source would not venture to recall the number of eligible
Burmese voters, except saying the number would be less than 100.
According to a Burmese pro-democracy activist, the voter turnout would have been
particularly dismal because some of the eligible voters chose to stay away. "One of the
students received an invitation from the Embassy to vote but he did not vote fearing
repercussion if he voted 'No'," the activist said, insisting that his identity and that of the
student remained anonymous.
"There are only so many Burmese nationals in Delhi and people who vote 'No' could
easily be identified," the activist explained.
The Burmese Government has stipulated only citizens with legitimate government
documents like passport and valid visa can vote overseas. That inevitably meant a large
number of Burmese refugees living in India, like Dr Tint Swe from the National League
for Democracy (NLD), were excluded from voting.
Dr Tint Swe, who lives in exile here, told this newspaper the draft Constitution and the
Referendum Law and Rules are neither free nor fair. "The draft Constitution was made
public only one month ago so that the people have less time to study it. Only Burmese
version of the draft was published whereas most of the ethnic people do not read or
speak Burmese," he said, adding a Constitution drafted "unilaterally" by the military
junta is "unacceptable".
"[India has] failed to recognise the sentiment of the people of Burma," Dr Tint Swe said.
The United States has dismissed the referendum as an attempt by the Burmese military
to retain power. The London-based rights group Amnesty International, in turn, has said
the referendum is the "government's effort to legitimise military rule" in Burma. New
Delhi has chosen to remain silent.
A former Indian diplomat said New Delhi is closely working with Singapore on Burma and
their cooperation stemmed from a shared belief that Burma would disintegrate without
the Army. India agreed with Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong that Army must
be part of solution, the diplomat said, adding Burma is most likely to follow either
Indonesian or Thai models of transition.
The referendum in Burma will be held on May 10. It will be the first time Burmese
citizens would vote since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide
victory that was never recognised by the junta. The Burmese military junta has said the
vote will pave the way for democratic elections in 2010 but a leaked copy of the
document showed Suu Kyi is barred from holding office on the grounds she was married
to a foreigner. The draft constitution guarantees 25 per cent of parliamentary seats to the
military and allows the president to hand over all power to the military in a state of
emergency.
Polling has been held in the Burmese embassies in Singapore (April 25 to 29) and
Indonesia (April 27) and Canada (April 25 and 26). In Singapore, about 500 Burmese
nationals wore shirts displaying the word "No" as they waited to vote in the referendum.
Singapore is home to an estimated 30,000 Burmese nationals.
Burma, which has a population of 47 million, has been under military rule since 1962.
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