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Burma in chaos after 'sham' poll
Sian Powell, Bangkok
From: The Australian
November 10, 2010 12:00AM
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Thousands pour into a refugee camp in the border town of Mae Sot yesterday following fighting
between government troops and rebels. Picture: AFP Source: The Australian
THE political proxy for Burma's military junta has claimed a sweeping election win amid
clashes between government troops and rebels.
"We have won about 80 per cent of the seats. We are glad," a senior member of the junta-backed
Union Solidarity and Development Party said yesterday.
Pro-democracy groups questioned the result of an election condemned as a sham around the
world.
About 20,000 people fled to neighbouring Thailand amid fighting between rebels from the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and government troops.
At least three civilians were killed when heavy weapons fire hit the town of Myawaddy in Karen
state, an official in Burma said.
Skirmishes continued in pockets in the Burmese town of Myawaddy, and at Three Pagodas Pass,
even though the Burmese military yesterday declared Myawaddy had been retaken from the
rebels.
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The news magazine Irrawaddy reported up to 30 corpses of Burmese soldiers and rebel fighters
had been seen in the town.
The fighting erupted on Sunday when Burma's first elections in 20 years were held.
Serious allegations of increased vote fraud emerged yesterday, further dimming any chance the
elections had of redeeming Burma's international standing.
Early reports suggested there had been vote-stuffing, along with voter coercion and intimidation,
on election day.
But it is understood that wins by the National Democratic Force in the cities of Rangoon and
Mandalay (totalling 50 seats) were reversed. Now the NDF is likely to win only 13 seats.
The small and struggling opposition parties have complained about the irregularities, but it is
understood the military regime - although in no danger of losing the skewed national and
provincial elections - wanted to surpass Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy victory in 1990.
Anger is now building in Burma, and it may erupt into civil unrest if Ms Suu Kyi is released
from house arrest on schedule on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in Mae Sot, a radiologist from St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne has been trying to
assist refugees huddling around the airport.
In town to visit organisations providing medical assistance to Burmese refugees, Nicholas Trost
said he was helping to erect shelters for the homeless.
"There's a huge crowd here waiting to get some food," Dr Trost said. "But there are many groups
here, the Red Cross, and others. I don't know what the future holds for the refugees."
Analysts have predicted violence between Burma's various armed ethnic groups and the Burmese
military would quickly escalate following the contentious elections.
However, the splinter group of the rebel DKBA, which started the fighting in Mae Sot and
Payathonsu, only numbers about 1400 fighters. It appears they have refused the Burmese
military push to transform them into a border-guard force.
Aye Min Soe, a Burmese journalist with the Democratic Voice of Burma who lives in Mae Sot,
said the DKBA and the Karen National Liberation Army had formed a potent rebel grouping.
But many of the rebels were reportedly retreating into forests pursued by government forces.
"We think the government troops are following them to try and completely destroy them," one
local man was quoted as saying by AFP.
Aye Min Soe predicted the skirmishes in the region could continue for some time.
"We will see more and more fighting along the border lines of Thailand and China," he said.