Myanmar referendum on new consitution passes

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar announced Thursday that a constitution critics say will cement nearly four decades of military rule was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum held while the country reeled from a devastating cyclone.

The document was approved by 92.4 percent of the 22 million eligible voters last Saturday, said Aung Toe, head of the Referendum Holding Committee on state radio. He put voter turnout at more than 99 percent.

. . . a constitution critics say will cement nearly four decades of military rule. What nonsense! Who are these so-called experts? Why does a constitution written by a dictatorship mean anything?

Although I blog about Burma extensively, this is only my third post concerning the vote on the new constitution -- not without reason. The outcome seemed so much a foregone conclusion that it did not seem worthwhile to dignify such a bogus referendum by discussing it. I have long thought the so-called "no" campaign against the draft constitution a big waste of time.