As about a million Burmese have no roof over their heads, and up to 100,000 have perished in Cyclone Nargis, the junta in Myanmar is trying to push Burmese to the polls today to vote on a constitutional referendum. The lack of response to the victims -- like hampering international aid efforts -- is staggering, as is the government's seizure of aid shipments Friday:

"Myanmar's junta seized two planeloads of UN aid shipments meant for a multitude of hungry survivors of last week's devastating cyclone, prompting the world body to suspend further help, UN officials said Friday.

'All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated,' said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the UN's World Food Program in Bangkok.

The seized aid, including 38 tons of high-energy biscuits, arrived on two flights from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 'It is being held by the government,' he said."

But referendums are much easier for the government to fix win when your opposition is occupied with other things -- for example, Buddhist monks who have led anti-junta demonstrations are now sheltering storm victims, cleaning up debris, and generally doing everything the government won't do.

From Al-Jazeera:

"The referendum got under way on Saturday in much of the country, though in the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis the vote was postponed for two weeks.

Some 27 million of Myanmar's 57 million people are eligible to vote, although it was unclear how many would vote on Saturday and how many will vote on May 24 instead.

But the cyclone has overshadowed the vote, which even before the disaster many saw as being skewed in the military's favour.

...State-run TV news repeated broadcasts urging people to vote, making no mention of the tens of thousands killed and missing in the cyclone.

'Those who value the national well-being should go and vote "yes",' MRTV said in a scrolling headline."

The referendum, which the junta claims is a "road map to democracy," bans pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from ever holding public office and guarantees 25 percent of all parliamentary seats to the military.

Q&A: Is the country called Burma or Myanmar?

(Photo by Getty News)