Crying for Democracy
There are times when you just want to hope it's going be better somehow. You just want to think that, no, it should not be possible that it remains that way. You want to believe that something - anything - will happen, like in the movies where everyone is saved in a miraculous and radical change of the situation. You could call it hope. But, sometimes, one should accept that it was lost from the very start...
On Saturday 10th in Burma, there was a referendum to approve (or not - what a joke) the new constitution, drawn by the junta. Since 1990, Burma hasn't had a real constitution. Since 1990, when the Burmese elected Aung San Suu Kyi with 82% of the ballots - which led her to be kept in detention...
The suggested constitution is nothing else than a sham, a show aimed at the international community, in their so-called "Roadmap to democracy". The Generals only have this word coming from their mouth right now. Democracy here, democracy there... Blablabla... (Blah la wei)
Except that the constitution is just a way to legitimate the Generals' hold on power. If only there was some hope that we could modify it afterwards... But to do so would require the approval by 50% of the population and 75% of the parliament. When 25% of this one will be held by the military, who will never want to loose their grip on their dear constitution...
The constitution will also prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from being a candidate in future elections (to be held in 2010...). It give full powers to the junta in the event of a "crisis" (of which the definition is obviously not clear) and so on.
So let's go for a democratic referendum !
The campaign in itself was nothing short of ordinary in Burma. The constitution draft was available only after mid-April, that is less than 3 weeks before the referendum, and was actually sold, making it unavailable for the huge majority of the population.
But then... The summary of the constitution and the draft are different in some important ways and there is still some doubts as to which version is the final one. How to know if you'll need 50 or 100% of the population to make a change in the constitution afterwards ? Get away with it...
Finally... people brave enough to give leaflets campaigning for the No or to wear a tee-shirt with the letters NO got arrested throughout the country. Mainly members of the NLD, the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi's party.
The referendum in itself... a joke. I'm not even angry, I'm just totally, fully blasé. They're just hopeless, we'll get nothing from them, no such luck. What is left ? Force ? The international communities ? Cyclones victims, half dead, staggering towards Rangoon to protest ? Crisse, if only I had a magic wand !!
Extracts from Democratic Voice of Burma
"In some areas they announced on the loudspeaker that if you put a cross to vote NO, you will be given 3-years prison sentence and fined 100,000 kyat in accordance with the law … They are also chasing people who telling the outside world about this … When casting the ballots, the guards and officials manning the polling stations follow voters into the voting booths, they themselves tick [YES] for the voters and the like … When someone voted NO with a cross, they were forced to correct it … At some place they take video and photographs while you are ticking the ballot papers... "
"In Zeegyopin village, all the ballot papers were ticked YES and voters were told to just cast them inside the ballot box."
"I saw it with my own eyes … In our ward, they employed male and female Red Cross members. The female accompanied female voters and the male accompanied male voters and told tem where to tick"
"Yes, [the guards] themselves ticked YES votes for people … who could not come to vote to save time … some people were not allowed to vote either … and they were told that someone else had voted on their behalf" Une personne peut voter pour tous les membres de sa famille, j'ai vu des hommes mettre 3, 5, 9 bulletins dans les urnes... "
"In a village of 500 voters, there are only five NO votes … Because they are afraid … Some Chinese nationals holding Burmese identity cards"
"When I went to the polling station, someone said to me ‘let me show you how to vote’. He ticked the right ['Yes'] box for me and told me to put it into any ballot box"
"Everyone wants to vote 'No', but they don’t know what they are voting for. There are many people who don’t understand it. Those who don’t understand anything are voting 'Yes'. They are deliberately making it confusing for people. They told people to tick 'Yes' and people just did it. They placed three or four ballot boxes and they made people think the choice of ballot boxes is the choice for YES or NO"
"In Poppa village yesterday they summoned people and told people to sign or vote. 'You all have voted yes. Now go home'. They only allowed the heads of the family to sign, and ticked YES for all other family members over 18. Some people protested that there was no voting slip and they were told that they had nothing else to do. Without voting on the voting slips, they had voted YES"
"Township chairs are told that they will be given a mobile phone, if there is no NO vote in their polling stations."
"And they told voters, if you want to cast YES votes give us here (advance votes), but if you want to cast NO vote, go to the polling station. They manned the polling stations with police armed with guns and handcuffs…That’s it."
"They came to people’s house to procure advance votes and local authorities forced people to sign…Then they told people, you have voted, you don’t need to go to the polling station"
Ballot boxes. From left to right "yes", "no", "invalid ballots", "remaining ballots"
And so... Even if with all of this, there were too many No... We would never know it. The results will obviously be falcified. "Resounding victory of the Yes, our people hugely in favor of Democracy". So on...
I read a sentence yesterday in a book. Something like "May your first day in Hell last like 10,000 years, and may this first day be the shortest one of all". Would I dare to find it appropriate ?