Christian group tells world to reject Burmas sham election

Christian Solidarity Worldwide says there is no hope that Burma’s upcoming election will be free or fair.

Christian human rights group CSW has called on the world to reject Burma’s next election, after the country’s military regime announced this week that it would take place on November 7.

With democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi imprisoned and excluded, CSW said the election constituted a “whitewash” for the ruling military junta.

It warned that any hope of a free and fair election was “impossible” following election laws issued earlier in the year and a new constitution that CSW said “does not remotely meet international standards”.

The constitution was adopted in 2008 after a dubious referendum in which the government claimed a turnout of 98 per cent and a ‘yes’ vote of 92 per cent, despite the referendum taking place not long after Cyclone Nargis had wiped out the Irrawaddy Delta and killed more than 138,000 people.

The constitution sets aside 25 per cent of the parliamentary seats for the military, provides immunity for the military’s crimes, and says little about the rights of Burmese citizens.

Anyone with a criminal conviction is barred from becoming a member of a political party, while people who have been married to a foreign national are excluded from office. The laws automatically exclude many pro-democracy activists and political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.

Her party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory in 1990 but was blocked by the regime from forming a government. The NLD was forced to disband after it refused to register under the new rules, while monks, another pro-democracy force in Burma, have been denied the right to vote. Members of the pro-democracy movement were excluded from the constitution drafting process.

CSW repeated its call for an arms embargo to be imposed on Burma. It wants the UN to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the military junta’s crimes against humanity.

Benedict Rogers, leader of CSW’s East Asia Team, called on the international community to renounce November’s election.

“These fake elections represent nothing more than an opportunity for Than Shwe and his regime to entrench their rule, and offer no prospect of real meaningful change,” he said.

“It will be nothing more than a change of clothing, from military uniforms to civilian suits, without any meaningful change of policy, personnel or government.

“The world must reject the sham election and urge the generals to engage in a meaningful dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy movement and the ethnic nationalities.”