Cliff note: If I say “Jump”, don’t ask “how high?” just jump til you get it right! Who said you could question me?! You plottin’ on me?!
Recently I was talking to a friend who went to a function in support of the Burmese people. I say “Burma” in support of the opposition in contrast to the officially declared “Myanmar”; besides Bibbidy just sounds better. Anyway, at this function my friend was talking to cats who had been political prisoners in the country. They told him about all the conditions in the prisons (four to a cell, a bucket for biowaste), protests and the zero-tolerance with which they are embraced.
So my friend asks one cat how he finally got out of the country. The gentleman answered ‘actually quite easily. They know protesters are more trouble inside than out, so the govt kind of give us the boot.’ Which sounds peachy until you realize that this cat was a doctor in his homeland and since that government won’t substantiate his credentials, he had to start from scratch here. Sucks.
Recently the junta government ruling Burma passed a new constitution as supposedly approved by a vote of the public. They claim 92% of the public voted for this constitution; a claim balked at by external agencies and internal opposition forces as no more than ‘make-believe’. Why you ask? Well on May 10, the government passed the referendum stating 99% of the populous turned out at the ballots. Did they now? I’m sure we all know that 99% of Myanmar was NOT chillin’ on the 10th waiting to cast a vote. Even the government has said tens of thousands are still displaced from the cyclone and will cast their vote on May 24. Pick a story, y’all.
The constitution enshrines the junta’s hold on power and excludes the main opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from holding office.
Under its terms, 25% of seats in both houses of parliament would be guaranteed for the military - making it impossible to alter the constitution without their backing.
Source: BBC News | Burma ‘approves new constitution’
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