Asia-Pacific Features
Burma - plagued by desperation and rigged elections
By DPA
May 12, 2008, 0:14 GMT

Yangon- Missing a straw hat that's now probably lying somewhere in a rice field, Nu Nu Yi sits amid the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis.

Asked if the government had distributed enough food, she just shakes her head. A week after the cyclone ravaged Myanmar, her family has so far received just one kilo of rice, the young woman says.

Her village lies about an hour's drive from Yangon. The relief agency, Oxfam, says the death toll could increase 15-fold to 1.5 million people, if they do not receive clean drinking water and sanitary facilities soon.

In the wake of the devastation, it comes as no surprise that the population takes hardly any interest in the first vote since 1990.

Despite all the criticism, the military government went ahead with a referendum Saturday on a new constitution and postponed it until May 24 only in 47 of the worst-hit townships, mostly in Yangon.

One woman says she had completely forgotten the vote and then gives vent to her anger at the government: 'I hate it.'

A taxi driver in Yangon poked fun at the referendum, calling the junta 'crazy', adding: 'No one likes the government, but they'll win as if by magic.'

A saleswoman, Zaw Min Hla, admitted freely: 'I was paid, so I voted 'yes'.'

The official national daily, the New Light of Myanmar, had earlier advised everyone where to put their mark - right beside the 'yes' box, of course.

Myanmar's opposition in exile reported Sunday mass vote-rigging in the referendum on the controversial new constitution.

Members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party had witnessed Saturday intimidation, coercion and direct vote forging nationwide, the US Campaign for Myanmar reported.

The new constitution is supposed to pave the way for elections in two years, but would also cement power for the country's military leaders by securing 25 per cent of all parliamentary seats and key cabinet posts.

The military had expected a resounding 'yes' from the people, and had ignored all foreign appeals to postpone the referendum and care for the victims of the cyclone first.

Their tactics seem like a mockery in the face of all the destruction.

On the outskirts of Yangon, children search in the mud for fish. Their scanty slum dwellings have been badly hit, while only the walls and bits of the roof remain on one primary school.

An old woman tries in vain to pump a few drops of water from a well. Clean drinking water is scarce and the rubbish stinks.

A lorry operated by a western charity trundles through the area - a rare sight, as the situation is still tough for helpers.

Malteser International left Sunday with a cargo of aid including tarpaulins and water treatment equipment for the Irrawaddy Delta.

Helpers from Germany are trying to assess the situation despite all the hurdles. All kinds of rumours are making the rounds, phones and internet connections barely work and danger could lurk behind any corner.

Yet life seems to be returning to normal in Yangon. There were even Mother's Day presents in one restaurant Sunday and staff greeted guests with chocolates wrapped in foil as families celebrated inside to live music.

Outside a luxurious hotel near downtown Yangon's Sule Pagoda, one newlywed couple were having their photographs taken before getting into a long, black stretch limousine.

Almost anything from flipflops to mango can be bought - but the price of food has rocketed. Cars queue for kilometres at petrol stations.

The New Light of Myanmar listed this weekend a few places where electricity has been restored.

But Nargis has left its mark everywhere. Thousands of trees have been uprooted, window panes smashed and huge billboards tossed all over the place. The streets bustle, but few tourists are seen.

Street vendors offer to exchange cash on the black market. On a bench beside a lake, a couple cuddle and try to fend off curious gazes with a parasol.

A few hundred metres further on, a roadblock has been set up. The house behind it is the home of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyii, opposition leader under house arrest for years.

Those who do not want to incur the wrath of the military government had better stay far away from that roadblock.