Junta warns embassies against supporting Suu Kyi
YANGON: Myanmar’s pro-democracy party said Thursday that next month’s constitutional referendum would not be free and fair as the junta was quashing any attempts to speak out against it.
The National League for Democracy (NLD), which has already called on the public to vote “No” in the May 10 charter poll, said any attempts to campaign against the constitution were being suppressed, sometimes violently. “An intimidating atmosphere for the people is created by physically assaulting some of the members of (the) NLD,” it said in a statement. “For these reasons, it is now obvious that the forthcoming referendum cannot be free and fair.
Hence this referendum is not transparent or free and is not reliable for the people to get justice.” The party, headed by imprisoned democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, said that while the military authorities were able to campaign freely for a “yes” vote, freedom of speech did not apply to anyone else. “Private media are not allowed to express freely their opinion and are being restricted or controlled,” it said, adding that official NLD documents were being confiscated by authorities.
Local NLD organisers had also been detained and interrogated, it said, and called for the government to allow UN and foreign election observers - a suggestion already rejected by the military last month.
Embassies warned: The junta on Thursday warned foreign embassies not to support Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party. The warning carried in the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper came the morning after the regime announced that the referendum would be held on May 10. “Certain foreign powers, with the intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar, are now ... aiding and abetting some local political parties to destabilise the country,” the paper said.
“Some diplomats of certain foreign embassies in Yangon regularly visit NLD (headquarters), hold talks and give directives to harm the interests of the nation and the people,” the paper said. “The embassies should stop such activities,” the government mouthpiece said. The ruling junta says the new constitution will help create a “discipline-flourishing democracy,” with multiparty elections set for 2010.
Daily times afp
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