YANGON, MAY 10:Myanmar held a rare election on Saturday to approve a new army-drafted constitution, ignoring calls from the outside world to postpone the vote amid the devastation wreaked by Cyclone Nargis, while the military regime distributed international aid plastering the boxes with the names of top generals.

More than a week after Nargis tore through the Irrawaddy delta, packing 190 kph winds that whipped up a wall of sea-water pulverising everything in its path, aid was barely dribbling to 1.5 million increasingly desperate survivors.

Health experts warned that a “second disaster” loomed from diseases such as diarrhoea and malaria, even if survivors of the cyclone that left tens of thousands killed or missing do manage to find food and shelter.

The United Nations sent in three more planes and several trucks loaded with aid, though the junta took over its first two shipments. The government agreed to let a US cargo plane bring in supplies on Monday, but foreign disaster experts were still being barred entry.

State-run television continuously ran images of top generals — including the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe — handing out boxes of aid to survivors at elaborate ceremonies.

One box bore the name of Lt Gen Myint Swe, a rising star in the government hierarchy, in bold letters that overshadowed a smaller label reading: “Aid from the Kingdom of Thailand.”

“We have already seen regional commanders putting their names on the side of aid shipments from Asia, saying this was a gift from them and then distributing it in their region,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK.

State-run TV repeatedly told citizens it was their “patriotic duty” to approve the new constitution that enshrines a dominant role for the military, which has ruled the country of 53 million since a 1962 coup.

“I voted yes. It was what I was asked to do,” 57-year-old U Kyaing told Reuters in Hlegu, 50 km northeast of the cyclone-ravaged former capital, Yangon.

Even before Cyclone Nargis hit on the night of May 2, groups opposed to military rule, and foreign governments led by the United States, had denounced the constitution and vote as an attempt by the military to legitimise its 46-year grip on power.

The government’s feeble response to the disaster has only fed cynicism about the junta’s determination to proceed with their “roadmap to democracy” leading to multi-party elections in 2010.

The UN appealed for $187 million in aid, even though it is still not confident the food, water and tents flown in will make it to those most in need due the junta’s reluctance to admit international relief workers.

State-run TV in Myanmar warned of “foreign interference” in a repeatedly broadcast message urging people to cast their ballots for the new constitution. Voting in cyclone-devastated areas, including Yangon, has been postponed for two weeks.

The broadcast showed five young women performers in colourful clothing and singing songs, including the lyrics: “let’s go voting” and “come along for voting” with upbeat background music.

“To approve the state constitution is the national duty of the entire people today,” messages in Burmese and English said.

A written message on the screen said: “Let us all who oppose foreign interference and manipulation; oppose puppet government with strings of colonialists. Vote Yes.”

Most people are expected to do just that.

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