People’s Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE), an independent group of election monitors in the country, said on Thursday the election commission had denied it accreditation on the basis that it had received foreign funding. The chairman of the election commission did not answer Reuters' calls for comment, and a spokesman could not immediately be reached. Foreign observer missions, which have been permitted, are likely to be limited given travel restrictions and quarantine requirements during the coronavirus pandemic, the group said. "Therefore, to safeguard the transparency and accountability of the electoral processes, domestic election observers' role is of crucial importance,” PACE said in a statement. Richard Horsey, a Myanmar-based political analyst with the International Crisis Group, said PACE had significant experience of observing previous elections and was able to deploy large numbers of people.

Source: bd News24 August 13, 2020 12:11 UTC