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Burma Says Storm Killed 15,000
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Charles Petrie, who was then the top U.N. representative in Rangoon, was expelled, after the generals took umbrage at his public assertion that the demonstrations -- in which nearly 100,000 people took to the streets -- reflected public anger at deepening poverty.
The United Nations' on-the-ground assessments of the areas hit by Tropical Cyclone Nargis are being carried out by Burmese staffers, who do not require the same clearances to travel outside Rangoon as foreign aid workers do.
Opposition activists, meanwhile, condemned the government's plans to proceed with Saturday's referendum on a controversial new constitution. The generals say the charter will lay the foundation for a "discipline-flourishing democracy."
"It's only a few days left before the coming referendum and people are eager to cast their vote," the state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper said Monday. It has stated that all Burmese have a "patriotic duty" to support the constitution.
Dissident groups, who say the charter is simply a tool to legitimize military rule, said that going ahead with the vote as cyclone survivors struggle to meet basic needs reflects the generals' indifference toward the suffering of their citizens.
"They are insulting the victims," said Nyo Ohn Myint, an exiled member of the National League for Democracy, which is led by detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. "When your house is burning, why do you talk about tomorrow's schedule? It's outrageous and totally unacceptable."
Many Rangoon residents, still seething over the military's suppression of last September's protests, were reportedly expressing bitterness that it is doing too little to help restore normality.
"People are saying, 'Last September, they were incredibly efficient at clearing 100,000 people off the street, so why aren't they being as efficient clearing 100,000 trees off the street?' " said one Bangkok-based diplomat who is closely monitoring events in the country.
The diplomat warned that the junta is taking a large risk in devoting resources and attention to the referendum at a time when people are in desperate need of relief. He said the move could backfire if popular anger at a slow humanitarian response boils over.
"It is just bizarre that this would be their allocation of logistical resources at a time like this," he said.
Aung Naing Oo, a Thailand-based political analyst, said the junta -- which has prohibited any open debate of the new charter -- may be reluctant to postpone the vote because of the dissidents' underground "no vote" campaign.
"If they delay it, it will give the opposition groups more time to prepare," he said.
The constitution would create a parliament with 25 percent of the seats reserved for military appointees. The military has said that this will smooth the way for a transition to a civilian government.
Opposition groups, however, say that the goal is to appease Burma's Asian neighbors while keeping real power in the military's hands.
Most Burmese dissidents and analysts are predicting that the government will proclaim that the charter has been endorsed, regardless of the actual vote count.
Staff writer Dan Eggen in Washington contributed to this report.
