The Election Commission (EC) has decided not to give accreditation to Mafrel (Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections) to be an independent observer of the 10th Sarawak state election, polling of which is on April 16.

EC secretary Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria said this was because Mafrel had failed to fully comply to EC's requirements.

"Among them are for Mafrel and its affiliates to be non-partisan in their work," he said in a statement here today.

He said it was the aim of the EC to work together with independent election observer bodies which had credibility, integrity and were able to control affiliates besides being committed to acting in a way that was not against the principles and ethics of such bodies based on the requirements set by the EC.

Kamaruddin said the EC made the decision at a special meeting held at its headquarters in Putrajaya yesterday after studying in detail Mafrel's application to be an independent observer of the Sarawak election.

Mafrel was set up in Oct 2003 to monitor elections in the country.

- Bernama