Burma cracks down on 'no' campaign - opposition

Burma's main opposition party urged on Thursday that there be international observers of the May 10 constitutional referendum, saying its "No" campaigners were being assaulted and their materials seized in the run-up to the vote.

"Local authorities are committing acts of suppression by trying to seize documents of the NLD and detain or interrogate township organizers, the National League for Democracy said a day after the junta-drafted charter was made public.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win told Reuters at least three NLD members were attacked by unknown assailants as they campaigned against the constitution in Yangon, the former Burma's biggest city.

"For this reason, it is now obvious that the forthcoming referendum cannot be free and fair," the party's executive committee said in a statement demanding foreign observers, including from the United Nations.

In New York, the United Nations said what was important to the international community "is that the (Burma) government honors its stated commitment to a free and fair process."

"The United Nations once more strongly urges the authorities in Burma to ensure that conditions will be put in place that are conducive to making the referendum inclusive and credible," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters.

Myanmar Information Minister Kyaw Hsaw promised last month the vote would be "free and fair," but he bluntly rejected offers of U.N. technical assistance and monitors.

The charter, dismissed by Western critics as a ploy to entrench 46 years of army rule, grants the military an automatic 25 percent of seats in parliament.

It also gives the commander in chief the right to suspend the constitution at will.

KEY STEP

The junta, which tightly controls the media in Burma, otherwise known as Myanmar, has urged the country's 53 million people to back the charter, an important step in the junta's seven-point "road map to democracy" meant to culminate in multiparty elections in 2010.

The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused unnamed foreign governments of aiding the opposition to "destabilize the country" before the referendum.

It said some foreign diplomats in Rangoon (Yangon) had visited NLD headquarters to "give directives to harm the interests of the nation and the people."

It did not name the embassies, but said their activities violated international law and should stop.

On the streets of Rangoon, Buddhist monks were among those who snapped up copies of the 194-page charter selling for $1 at private stalls and government bookstores.

"Fifty copies sold like hot cakes in less than an hour," a roadside bookstall owner said. "I never thought our people would be so keen on the constitution."

The junta, which sparked international outrage last September when troops crushed anti-junta protests, has ordered civil servants to vote "yes" next month and to persuade their family members to do so too.

"We have been told we will have to vote in our offices," a government employee said. The junta has not publicly explained how the referendum will be run.

Nyan Win said many people would not have enough time to study the constitution.

"Most people in Yangon will get their copies only today. What about those in provinces?" he said.