Monks denounce referendum call

The head of the International Burmese Monks Organisation yesterday denounced a junta-backed constitutional referendum in Myanmar as "unlawful" and called on the New Zealand Government to reject it and join other world leaders to help the country get back on track towards "true democracy".

Venerable U Pannya Vamsa, a revered Burmese Buddhist leader who is in New Zealand on a three-day visit, made this call in a declaration at the Ratanadipa Buddhist Temple in New Lynn yesterday.

The 83-year-old abbot will also be meeting politicians, including Green MP Keith Locke, community leaders and journalists this afternoon to help garner local support to the Burmese cause.

Mr Vamsa is calling on the Government "to bring its target sanctions policy into line with Australia, United States and European Union policies" and "to use its embassy in Thailand to regularly meet with Aung San Suu Kyi and her party".

He is also asking New Zealand to start a "Burma democracy fund" to help finance pro-democracy movements outside Myanmar, similar to the Zimbabwe Democracy Fund established by Australia.

There are about 2000 Burmese in Auckland and the temple has become a meeting place for the community, where hundreds flock to during weekends.

Ma Maung, who entered New Zealand as a refugee last year, said life here was "like living in heaven" compared with where he came from. An estimated 90 per cent of the population in Myanmar lives on about US$1 ($1.25) a day.

"Some people complain here about how hard life is and how poor they are in New Zealand, but I think no one knows what is being poor unless you have lived in Burma," he said. "There is also no freedom, and you have to watch every word and every movement, otherwise the Army will be ever ready to get you."

Last month, Myanmar's military rulers announced they would hold a referendum on a new constitution in May to set the stage for a multiparty democratic election in 2010.

Although China, Russia and some South East Asian countries have said this was a step in the right direction, the US and some Western countries saw it as being aimed at entrenching the military's role there.

Mr Vamsa said the referendum was an attempt by the junta to "trick the international community" into believing they were heading towards democracy.

"How can they say it is democracy when they have laws that are like guns pointing at our heads?" asked the abbot, who is living in exile in Penang, Malaysia. "The junta has imposed laws to make speeches and leaflets about the referendum illegal and even declared democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could not participate because she was married to a foreigner who is now dead."

He said the referendum was identical to the stalling tactic the regime used when it refused to recognise the democratic elections in 1990 that was won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.

"They are only trying to trick the community because they don't want the world to remember what happened in September last year," Mr Vamsa said, referring to the regime's crackdown on the pro-democracy uprising which left at least 31 people dead.