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Myanmar rejects UN proposal for observers at referendum
YANGON - Myanmar’s military government has rejected a UN proposal for the regime to allow observers at its constitutional referendum planned for May, state television said Saturday. The proposal was made by meddling visiting UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his talks with election officials on Friday, when he offered to help provide independent observers and UN technical assistance with the polls.

A member of the commission organising the balloting, Thaung Nyung, rejected the offer, saying the referendum was a domestic affair. ‘We have enough experience, but we take note of your offer,’ Thaung Nyung said, according to state television. ‘Holding the referendum on the constitution is within the country’s sovereignty,’ he said. ‘For internal affairs in the past, we have never had observers from outside.’

He noted that no observers were sent in 1947 and 1974 to monitor referendums to approve Myanmar’s earlier constitutions.
And look how well those turned out!
The commission answered few of Gambari’s questions about the referendum, declining to give an exact date for the balloting, according to state television. They said only that the voting would take place on a single day and that tens of thousands of polling stations would be set up around the country.

The regime says the referendum to approve a new constitution will pave the way for multiparty elections in 2010, but critics say the process will only enshrine military rule.
Posted by: Steve White 2008-03-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=232370