Burmese vote on referendum as leaders keep grip on aid

Relief officials fear epidemic of cholera

In this photo captured from video, a military official distributed food at a relief camp yesterday in Rangoon. Generals handed out aid at elaborately staged ceremonies. (mrtv-3 via Associated Press)

RANGOON, Burma - The military junta forged ahead yesterday with a constitutional referendum intended to cement its power after a campaign of arm-twisting and intimidation, even as it continued to restrict foreign aid shipments to survivors of last week's devastating cyclone.

The junta is refusing to grant entry to foreign aid workers that relief officials say are crucial to preventing further deaths from disease among an estimated 1.5 million victims.

By yesterday, the military had not released two UN World Food Program aid shipments that arrived Friday, according to a spokesman for the program.

Several aid flights have landed in Rangoon or are en route, the spokesman said, and supplies from other countries were also on the way. But the aid amounted to about one-tenth of what is needed, along with a major logistical operation, said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the World Food Program.

The cyclone left more than 60,000 people dead or missing. Relief officials warned of an epidemic of cholera and said there was generally a 10-day window after a disaster before the death rate rose steeply.

The focus for the military junta was on the referendum for a constitution that is designed to legitimize and perpetuate military rule. Residents said the vote followed a campaign of coercion mixed with propaganda. The military appeared to be diverting some resources from cyclone victims to the referendum.

There were cases of generals' names being written on boxes of foreign aid before they were distributed, the Associated Press reported. State-run television showed the junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, and other generals handing out boxes of aid at elaborately staged ceremonies.

A resident of Rangoon, speaking by telephone, said refugees seeking shelter in schoolhouses were evicted so they could be used as polling places. She said refugees had also been evicted from other buildings.

In Datgyigone, a farming village 35 miles north of the capital, a precinct captain burst into laughter when asked if he thought most people would vote for the constitution. "Everyone will vote yes," he said after he had controlled himself. "Of course yes. Hundred percent."

But he said most of the voters had no idea what they were voting for, and that neither he nor most people he knew had actually read the proposed constitution. "The government says vote, so we vote," he said with a shrug. He spoke openly, but asked that his name not be used for fear of government retribution.

Most villagers, when asked about their votes, declined to speak. A man selling batteries, combs, and flip-flops from a small pushcart hurried off when he was asked about the referendum. "I cannot speak about this," he said over his shoulder. "I'm afraid."

There were a number of reports of "preballoting," in which employees of enterprises or government offices were required to vote ahead of time under the eye of their supervisors.

The product of a 14-year stop-and-start convention, the referendum is intended to lead to a multiparty election and a nominally civilian government. But it allots 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military, gives the military control of key ministries, and allows the military to seize control in a time of emergency.

It would also bar Aung San Suu Kyi, an opposition leader whose party won a general election in 1990, from public office. She has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

There was no obvious police or military presence in Datgyigone or at another dozen polling stations during the day.

The polls closed at 4 p.m., as a torrential rainstorm was lashing the area.

Thousands of soldiers were on the roads and in towns near the village, using axes, machetes, and two-handled cross-cut saws to clear trees from towns and roadways. Long convoys of green Chinese-made military trucks hauled away stumps and branches.

Small groups of residents in the main city, Rangoon, banded together to distribute aid, but one of them said the authorities were sometimes confiscating their relief supplies.

The Rangoon resident said that some victims had taken shelter in Buddhist monasteries, which had been a target of the government during the violent suppression of protests, led by monks, last September. Monks cooked and distributed donations of fish and rice.

The United States was preparing to send in its first aircraft with relief supplies tomorrow.

The International Committee of the Red Cross sent its first aid flight to Burma yesterday, loaded with generators, water treatment material, and medical equipment.