Myanmar declared victory yesterday for a military-backed constitution, pressing ahead with its political agenda despite the devastation caused by the cyclone that left 133,000 dead or missing.
Though more than half of the 2.4 million people severely affected by the cyclone have not yet been reached by international aid, the ruling junta claimed nearly all of them cast a ballot.
“The suggestion that the areas affected by the cyclone got 93 percent turnout just highlights what nonsense the process is,” said John Virgoe, Southeast Asia director for International Crisis Group.
“The way this has been done can’t in any way represent the true wishes of the people because it wasn’t a free and fair vote,” he said.
Cyclone Nargis pounded the country more than three weeks ago, destroying entire villages in the Irrawaddy Delta area in the country’s southwest and pounding the main city of Yangon.
Some 4.5 million voters in the cyclone zone were eligible to cast ballots on Saturday in a second round of voting. State media said 93 percent turned out for the poll, with 92.93 percent endorsing the charter.
A first round of voting had been held on May 10 in regions spared by the storm.
Nationwide, state media said the constitution was approved by 92.48 percent, with a 98 percent turnout.
Myanmar ignored international calls to delay the referendum and those whose homes had been destroyed said they were forced out of schools where they had sought shelter so classrooms could be used as polling stations.
The US said on Sunday it was “dismayed” that Myanmar’s military rulers had held the second round of voting in regions still devastated by the cyclone.
“The United States is dismayed by the fact that, in the midst of a major humanitarian disaster, in which a majority of those affected have not received assistance yet, the Burmese regime conducted on May 24 a second round of voting on its draft constitutional referendum in the five regions affected by the cyclone,” State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said in a statement.
Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-moon headed back to New York yesterday, saying he hoped the junta would honor its promise to open up cyclone-devastated areas of the country to foreign aid workers.
Ban’s mission to knock down Myanmar’s barriers to international cyclone assistance climaxed on Sunday when donor nations offered more than US$100 million to help the country recover from Nargis.
But they warned the ruling generals they would not fully open their wallets until they were given access to the hardest-hit areas.
“We have seen that the Myanmar government is moving fast to implement their commitment. My sincere hope is that they will honor their commitment — that we have to see,” Ban told reporters before leaving Bangkok for New York on Sunday night.
How quickly Myanmar embassies around the world issue visas to international aid workers lining up to enter the country will be an important litmus test of the junta’s sincerity in allowing access.
Also See: Giving without seeking in return
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS