Burma Holds Constitutional Referendum Despite Cyclone Disaster
缅甸灾民盼援救 宪法公投仍举行

Burma's military government has gone ahead with a constitutional referendum as its people wait for assistance in the wake of a cyclone disaster a week ago that left at least 62,000 people dead or missing. Critics have labeled the referendum a sham.

缅甸在一个星期前遭受了罕见的强热带风暴袭击，在这次风暴袭击中丧生或者是下落不明的民众至少有六万两千人，很多人目前还在等待著救援物资的到来。在这种情势下，缅甸军政府依然按计划举行了宪法公投。批评人士称之为一场骗局。

The referendum got under way only in some parts of the country Saturday. Earlier this week, the government postponed the voting until May 24 in areas that were hardest hit by the cyclone.

星期六，缅甸的公投只是在一些地区举行。这个星期早些时候，缅甸政府把那些遭受风暴袭击最严重地区的公投日期推迟到5月24号。

With diplomats and aid agencies estimating more than one-million people severely affected by the storm and surge, analysts expected a low turnout. Burma's military rulers allowed no outside observers or foreign media, making it impossible to verify the number of people who voted Saturday.

外交人士和援助机构都估计，有一百多万人在这次风暴中受到严重影响。分析人士因此推算，参加公投的人数不会太多。缅甸军人统治者不允许外来的观察人员和外国媒体监督这次公投；所以说，很难证实有多少人参加了星期六的投票。

Several people interviewed inside Burma say they were more concerned with repairing their homes and finding food and water after the storm, and some said they had no plans to vote.

缅甸境内好几个接受采访的人都表示，风暴过后大家更关心的是修复房子，想法找到食品和饮用水，有的说，根本不打算去投票。

Outside Burma, exiled dissidents urged their countrymen to vote against the referendum, which they say is illegitimate. Saw David Thakabaw is a member of the National Council of the Union Burma, an exile group in the Thai city of Mae Sot on the border with Burma.

在缅甸国外流亡的异议人士敦促缅甸同胞对这次他们称之为非法的公投投反对票。苏大卫(Saw David Thakabaw)是流亡在泰国的“缅甸联邦全国委员会”的一员。这个组织位于泰国与缅甸交接的城市湄索。

"On the whole, we see that this is a fraudulent constitution which is not democratic, which is just to prolong the rule of the military dictatorship in Burma," he said.

他说，“从总体上说，我们认为这是一部骗人的宪法，不是一部民主宪法，其目的只不过是延长缅甸军人独裁而已。”

The Burmese junta says the new constitution is a step in what the generals say is a roadmap to democracy. The constitution calls for multi-party elections in 2010 that will supposedly end the military's control of the government, which it has had since 1962.

缅甸军政府表示，新宪法是沿着民主化路线图向前走了一步。这部宪法要在2010年举行多党选举，结束1962年开始的军方对政府的控制。

But critics believe the generals have no intention of releasing power. The new constitution guarantees the military 25 percent control of the parliament and full power to veto. The constitutional convention at which the 200-page document was drafted excluded members of the leading opposition group, the National League for Democracy.

但是批评人士认为，军方将领根本不想放弃手中的权力。新宪法保证军方掌控议会四分之一的席次，同时拥有否决权。草拟这部长达200页的宪法的制宪大会，根本就没有允许主要反对派“全国民主联盟”成员参与。

Critics note the constitution bans Burmese nationals with foreign spouses or children to hold political posts. Observers say the provision appears to be aimed at preventing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi - the widow of a British national and member of the NLD - from running for office. The nobel peace laureate has been under house arrest for most of the past 18 years. Her party won a majority of seats in parliament in 1990, but the military government never allowed it to form a government.

批评人士还指出，宪法禁止有外国国籍配偶或子女的缅甸公民出任政治职务。观察人士说，这似乎是防止反对派领袖、“全国民主联盟”的昂山素季竞选政治职务，因为她已经过世了的丈夫是英国人。昂山素季是诺贝尔和平奖的得主，在过去18年里，她绝大多数时间都是在软禁中度过的。昂山素季所属的政党在1990年的议会选举中赢得了多数席位，但是军政府一直不允许这一政党组阁执政。

The United States and other members of the international community have called the referendum a sham and urged the government to call it off, especially as the country struggles to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone.

On Saturday, people contacted inside Burma indicated anger has been building against the military leadership over what many say has been its slow response to the cyclone disaster. Witnesses say thousands in the hard-hit Irawaddy Delta region are without food and other supplies a week after the disaster as the government continues to deny entry to foreign relief workers who want to go in and help distribute humanitarian aid that is trickling into the country from around the world.

星期六，记者联系到的缅甸内部的人士暗示，在这次强烈风暴的善后工作当中，军政府动作极其缓慢，人们对此非常不满。目击者说，在伊洛瓦底江三角洲重灾区，成千上万民众在风暴过后一个星期，还没有食品和饮用水，而缅甸政府却继续阻止来自国外的救援工作人员进入缅甸，帮助分发那些来自世界各地的人道救援物资。

The military leadership has been willing to accept aid, but has insisted it - not foreign relief workers - will be the one to distribute it.

缅甸军政府愿意接受援助物资，但坚持说，必须由他们，而不是国际救援人员，来分发救援物资。

The United Nations is calling for $187 million to help the victims. The U.N.'s World Food Program resumed its airlift of emergency food rations, which it had stopped, after Burmese authorities impounded shipments at the airport in the main city, Rangoon, on Friday.