Sham
BURMA ELECTION: NUMBERS
First election in 20 years
Total of 37 parties contesting the polls
29 million voters eligible to cast ballots
1.5 million ethnic voters disenfranchised because areas deemed too dangerous for voting to take place
About 3,000 candidates of whom two-thirds are running for junta-linked parties
No election observers, no foreign journalists
Add to the above the fact that all candidates must pay a deposit of around £300 to stand in these elections, this in a country where the average factory worker earns less than £20 a week, and you can see that the whole election process could be described as a farce or, as I have put it, a sham.
There are those of course who will say that a corrupt election is better than no election but how can that be when the Junta have made it illegal for the largest party to stand? It's not even a secret ballot as the Junta have been open about their intentions by telling voters who put a cross in the box next to any 'opposition' parties that they will lose their jobs.
Burma is a country where rights that we in the west take for granted: freedom of association, assembly and expression are severely limited, and torture, child labour and illegal detentions are commonplace. Barack Obama said yesterday, during his visit to Mumbai, that we in the west do not have the right to impose our political styles on other countries (Iraq and Afghanistan anybody?) but that pressure should be brought where possible to make countries aware of their obligations to individuals rights.
I went to bed last night hopeful that Aung San Suu Kyi and the more than 2,100 other political prisoners would be released following these elections. It may be that the Generals are becoming more aware of the view of us in the west and these elections are the first step towards a freer society. I just think that given the barriers that have been erected around this election in terms of deposits, banning of candidates and the filling of the ballot papers by Junta backed candidates that we may still be in for a long wait.
3 comments:
Clearly rubber isn't oil. Sorry to be flippant but I don't know enough to make an intelligent comment! A good read at Con Home with similar sentiment and more detail that you might enjoy (not in the laughing sense!)
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/centreright/2010/11/no-freedom-in-burma-today.html
Yes, no mention of "regime change" in the case of Burma. Or Zimbabwe for that matter.
Thanks for the link Span - seems ConHome and myself have the same sources and both choose the word 'sham.' I actually got my information courtesy of an American Christian Alliance website would you believe, but I think Amnesty must take a lot of the credit plus those people in Burma who are brave enough to contact agencies in the west.
Shy, you are right and unfortunately the whole thing is about international trade in the end, as Span alluded to. I think all we can do is keep posting about it.
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