Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – In what is the latest round of threats by Myanmar authorities the country’s public servants have been told that if they do not vote ‘Yes’ in the upcoming constitutional referendum they will be fired. The accusation comes from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) which released a communiqué yesterday in which it reported intimidations against farmers, who are being told that their land might nationalised, and students, who might be denied access to a university education, if they do not vote ‘Yes’.
NLD spokesperson Thein Nyunt said that the main opposition party is getting reports and eye witness accounts from around the country about the methods the military is using to promote its cause.
Some government officials are saying that the junta is planning to have teachers, professors and public servants cast their ballot before the 10 May referendum in the presence of military officers.
According to Win Min, a political analyst in exile in Thailand, it is clear that “the authorities are afraid that they [public sector employees] would vote ‘no’ if the elections were free.”
The NLD, along with human rights organisations, student groups and Buddhist monks, have abandoned their initial stance, which was to boycott the poll, and have now opted for a campaign urging people to vote themselves against the new charter which will legitimise the military regime.