Despite Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) having rejected the Election Commission's (EC) offer to be an election observer in the 13th general election, the commission does not plan to invite a new group to be an observer.

The EC will stick to the current four bodies in performing the monitoring mission, according to a report in today's New Straits Times .

The four which will monitor the conduct of the general election in the peninsula are the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas), the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli), the independent pollster Merdeka Centre, and Majlis Belia Malaysia (MBM).

TI-M announced its decision to decline the EC's invitation on Monday, on grounds that it cannot agree with its terms of reference for observers.

TI-M is the third group to decline the invitation after the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights ( Proham ) and the election-monitoring NGO National Institute for Democracy and Electoral Integrity ( NIEI ).

Critics have claimed that the stifling rules imposed on election observers - such as a gag order preventing observers from addressing the press - were not in line with international standards.

Others claim that the EC was manipulating civil society groups to legitimise its conduct of the elections.

For example, NIEI - which has observed elections across Asia - noted that there was no legal framework for election observers and that the EC were drawing up rules on an ad hoc basis, unlike other countries such as Bangladesh.