According to some reports, military officers went to every house across the country and ordered people to vote "yes" in the May 10 national referendum to adopt the junta-drafted constitution.
People in several cities inside the tightly controlled country have said the officers threatened to arrest them should they reject the newly proposed constitution.
"It's a fake constitution. We never approved it, we were just afraid of losing our lives," said Aun Naing, 25, a shop owner in the city of Thanbyuzayat, more than 400 kilometers southeast of Yangon.
He said people were aware that if the constitution was adopted there was little chance things in the country would get better in the foreseeable future.
"It's like we live in fear and misery because everything is very difficult these days," he said.
In an attempt to convince the international community of its commitment to democratization, the military junta on May 10 held a referendum to ask people whether they agreed with the new draft constitution.
As the country was dealing with the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 130,000 people in Yangon and the Irawaddy Delta region, Myanmar's ruling generals announced last month that a new constitution viewed by critics as a pro-government sham had been overwhelming approved by voters.
The commission in charge of the referendum said 92.4 percent of voters approved the constitution.
The generals say the 194-page constitution is a key step toward democracy and have promised multiparty elections in 2010.
But many people do not believe the military's promises.
"I don't believe in what the military has said. And we don't believe they can bring prosperity to us. Look at what we have so far? Even basic commodities are difficult to get," Nyi Lan, a fisherman in Myeik, 800 kilometers south of Yangon, said.
The pro-democracy opposition has rejected the new constitution, saying it would only enshrine military rule.
Under the new constitution, the military will appoint one-fourth of the members of both houses of parliament, ensuring that it will have veto power over future constitutional changes. The military also will have a leading role in choosing the president and two vice presidents.
The president would have the power to declare a state of emergency, in which he or she would hand over power to the military to battle insurgencies, and to combat the threat of "disintegration of national solidarity". The military would be immune from prosecution for actions taken under emergency rule.
The new constitution also bans pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running for public office because she was married to a foreign national. Many of her supporters also would be blocked from power because they have criminal records for opposing the regime.
There are at least 1,890 political prisoners in the country, including hundreds of people arrested after pro-democracy demonstrations last year.
"We know that even when we have elections to chose the president, he or she will only be a puppet. The military will control everything," Yang, a resident of Kawthoung, Myanmar's southernmost city, said.
The 24-year-old, who has a master's degree in international relations from Yangon University, asked for international intervention to declare the constitution a sham.
"People don't want it. It's just a tool for the military to rule as long as possible. Please, people are tired of military rule. What we want is to be able to earn a living normally without fear," he said.
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