SIBU, April 4 – The Election Commission (EC) is in the process of inviting observers from the other Asean countries and the Asean Secretariat for the 13th general election. EC deputy secretary (research) Harun Che Su said today five observers and
two guest observers would be invited from the Asean countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand.
“We are inviting five plus two guest observers from each country. They will not be deployed in Sarawak or Sabah but probably in three to four states 
close to the national capital due to time and distance factors,” he told reporters after giving a “dos and donts” briefing for local observers here.
Harun also said that the EC would be happy if any of the 91 observers appointed from the nine local non-governmental organisations wanted to observe the election process in Sarawak’s rural constituencies in the coming general election.
“We will be happy if all the 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak are covered. The observers can then give us their input on their observations with a view to further enhancing the electoral process which is already very transparent as far as the EC is concerned,” he said.
Harun said that some 1,183 observers from 17 non-governmental organisations had been appointed. He also said that the EC had set aside a budget of RM400 million to conduct the election, with some 230,000 officers.
BERNAMA
