A new constitution had been overwhelming approved by voters in last weekend’s referendum after the cyclone disaster that hit Burma, killing more than 40,000 people.

The government portrayed the vote as a step toward democracy and to promised multiparty elections from 2010.

The commission in charge of the Saturday referendum said 92.4% of voters approved the constitution, state-run media reported.

Voting was postponed in the country’s largest city, Yangon, which was affected by the tropical cyclone. The Burmese leadership previously declared it would postpone the constitutional referendum in hard hit areas of Rangoon and the Irawaddy River Delta. Residents of the storm-ravaged areas are scheduled to vote on May 24.

The official death toll from the cyclone has been raised at 43,318, the government said.

The UN and European Union had sent officials to Yangon, also known as Rangoon, to try to persuade the military regime to allow foreign teams and equipment into Myanmar, to cooperate and open up a comprehensive foreign aid program. Burmese government officials said that are willing to accept international aid.  

“The main thing that is emphasised is that this is a humanitarian issue and it should not be politicised, and that is the view of everyone,” the Burmese ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Tint Swe said.

The UN’s humanitarian chief, John Holmes, applied to enter Myanmar aboard a U.N. World Food Program plane carrying supplies, but had not received a visa, UN spokeswoman Michelle Montas said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Under the new constitution, the military will have a leading role in choosing the president and will have veto power over future constitutional changes.