Rangoon civil servants have no option but to vote ‘Yes’
May 24, 2008 (By Loa Htaw, IMNA)

Despite deep seated opposition to the military regime, a majority of Rangoon’s civil servants said they have to vote in favour of the draft constitution of the junta.

Many civil servants have voted in advance in support of the constitution afraid  of losing their jobs, said a government bank staff Daw Ngwe Win.

“I live in the country. If I don’t want problems, I have to support the constitution” she said.

The referendum is slated to be held on May 24 in Rangoon and Irrawaddy divisions, where Cyclone Nargis has affected over 2.5 million people.

“According to the authorities, the regime is already on its way to democracy. The government will also offer free education for elementary students,” said a teacher, Daw Tin Htar.  “They said if you support the constitution then the country will benefit,” she added. 

“We have not seen the draft constitution,” said a civil servant.  I do not want to vote because if I do, I would have to vote ‘yes’, because I’m a civil servant,” said Daw Ngwe Win.

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Shwe Pyitha Township, Rangoon; May 23 2008
reported by Human Rights Defenders & Promoters

The military regime compromised international aid and coerced “Yes” votes on the constitutional referendum in Htan Chauk Pin, No (NYA, in Burmese) Quarter. “The local authorities started pre-voting and warned local people, ‘If you vote “Yes,” we will give you aid and if not, sorry for that.’ Yesterday at 2:00 pm the commander of the Rangoon Command visited Shwe Pyitha Township. After, the local authorities started conducting a census, prior to the vote,” said a witness there. “At 3:00 pm one of the authorities at Quarter level, Khin Maung Than, ordered the residents to check “YES” on the ballots and he enclosed all ballots in the box.”

There are about 1700 refugees in Htan Chauk Pin No. (NYA) Quarter and they were forced to sign “YES” ballots. They authorities paid some voters 500-1,000 kyat (US$ 0.4-0.8) for “YES” votes.

There was a conflict between local donors and authorities and the Army. Police and USDA arrested 50 local donors. “When the donors prepared to distribute cooking oil and rice to the refugees, the authorities told the donors the give them (the authorities) the aid. The donors refuse to do so. Then they were dismissed and a conflict started. Many donors were arrested,” a witness said.

A resident from No. (10) Quarter said, “The local authorities and officers from the electrical power department told the peoplethat they are trying to recover the electricity and will be busy on the referendum day. Therefore, they need people to vote now. They showed all “YES” checked ballots did not let people really vote.”

Schools and some religious halls have hosted refugees in Rangoon. “The authorities would drive away those who are not in the voting list. On the other hand, they warned the refugees if they (refugees) check the “YES”, they would be allowed to stay there,” a witness said.

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May 10 2008; Hle-Gu and Hmaw-Be Township, Rangoon reported by Human Rights Defenders & Promoters

High ranking officers checked and signed the ballots on behalf of the soldiers in all battalions in Hmaw-Be. In Rangoon Division, military officers serve as electoral commissioners and they checked “Yes” to all ballots on behalf of the soldiers.

A soldier from No (4) Head Quarter Operations Command (in Burmese; Sa Ka Kha-4) said, “There are no booths in our barracks. The Captain checked ‘Yes’ and enclosed all ballots by himself on 6-7 March. We just came back from frontier (Karen State) and we have never seen our own ballots.”

In Hle-Gu, Rangoon Division, the village authorities (in Burmese Ya Yaa Ka) and USDA members distributed ballots and pressured people to check ballots “Yes” votes before them. A member of electoral commission said, “We need 90% of approval votes to report to Naypyidaw (new administrative capital where the junta, SPDC, is based).”