Voting, Burma-Style
Posted on April 30, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International, Politics.
The Burmese government has rigging votes down to an art. In the aftermath of protests demanding political reform, the Burmese junta is holding a referendum on its new constitution. The vote represents the junta’s way of appeasing the international community by pretending to enact democratic reforms. The referendum will be May 10, and advance voting has begun this week. But there is nothing “democratic” happening; and these aren’t “reforms.” Here is how the junta holds a referendum. Let’s call it, “Voting, Burma-Style.”
First, the government handpicks the delegates who write the new constitution. Second, it adds a clause that forbids the national hero and Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, from ever running for office.
The junta then makes amendments impossible; harasses, assaults and arrests pro-democracy activists; forbids criticism of the draft constitution; and bombards the state media with a campaign to promote the referendum. It prevents media outlets inside the country from publishing the views of anyone against the referendum. The junta doesn’t tell people what the draft constitution actually says. Then it insists that all civil servants and their families must vote and must vote “yes” - or lose their jobs.
Think that’s enough? Nope. The junta also prints some ballots with the “yes” box already filled in. An anonymous source told the Irrawaddy, a magazine based in Thailand and run by Burmese exiles: “I was given the ballot already marked—my duty was just to put it in the ballot box.”
And finally, just in case the above tactics fail, the junta writes the constitution ensuring that the military government will remain in power.
Michael Green, a professor at Georgetown, and Michael Schiffer of the Stanley Foundation wrote in an op-ed in the Boston Globe, “The junta has mastered the art of fending off international pressure with empty gestures. It is exploiting divisions in the international community to block pressure for real change.”
If Machiavelli were around, he could learn a thing or two.
See Also:
4 Replies to "Voting, Burma-Style"
The Latest Disaster in Burma | Hanna Ingber Win on May 4, 2008
[...] Cyclone Nargis, which flattened entire villages around the country, came a week before a national referendum on Burma’s draft constitution (see post here). [...]
Infuriating | Hanna Ingber Win on May 6, 2008
[...] in Rangoon, an area hit by the cyclone. They aren’t supposed to leave until after the referendum on the military-drafted constitution May [...]
Pop + Politics : Blog Archive : Burmese junta makes things difficult on May 6, 2008
[...] families in Rangoon, an area hit by the cyclone. They aren’t supposed to leave until after the referendum on the military-drafted constitution May [...]
keith on May 1, 2008
one more reason to boycott the beijing olympics.