MOULMEIN, Myanmar, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- On the eve of the first national election in 20 years, citizens of Myanmar are unwilling to talk politics openly, a British newspaper says.
The Guardian's own article was published under a pseudonym. The reporter said he changed the names of many of those he quoted. The election is scheduled for Sunday.
The reporter described a visit to a teashop in Moulmein.
"Out here, we are the three wise monkeys. We hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil," the owner told him. "Come to the back. We are among friends there."
U Thein Htun, one of those friends, said he believed citizens should boycott the vote, since the outcome is predetermined.
"The election means nothing," he said.
Another man, U Soe Lwin, called the election a "small step towards democracy," saying voting against the government would at least show the rulers they do not have support.
The military junta that has ruled Burma since 1962 has done its best to isolate the country as the election approaches, including cutting off Internet access and telephone lines. It has also barred foreign election monitors and tried to keep reporters out.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party, the junta's political arm, has 1,112 candidates for 1,158 seats at all levels of government, while the largest opposition group has only 163.
