The Election Commission (EC) is still mulling the requests of NGOs that it invited to serve as observers for the 13th general election.

NONE EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the commission was agreeable to some points and did not agree with the others, but he assured the groups that there would be sufficient time for them to prepare.

"When we didn't contact them , it doesn't mean we have disagreed. We are still finalising, doing final touch-ups... We need their support," Aziz said.

The groups are corruption watchdog Transparency International-Malaysia, think-tanks Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs and Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, and pollster Merdeka Centre.

Asked when the EC would meet with representatives of these groups again, Aziz was only prepared to say "in the near future".

At the press conference at the EC headquarters in Putrajaya today, Aziz was also asked about the group’s opposition to the gag order preventing them from speaking to the media about the elections.

“We are still discussing it. We are concerned that besides becoming observers, everyone would be issuing statements here and there. It will be havoc for us.

“We are thinking of how to do that. During elections, statements from everybody are very important for us and tghe EC is responsible for everything,” he said.

Aziz also lamented about past experiences, which he said have shown that “all sorts” of statements would be issued by everyone and that these are always one-sided.

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