The National Elections Committee revealed that the elections of the Federal National Council for citizens residing or visiting outside the country will be held in 120 countries around the world within the headquarters of embassies, consulates and Emirates official missions. It pointed out that it has allocated 35 electoral centers to receive voters in different emirates during the main election day, Fifth of next October.

The Committee pointed out during a briefing organized in Abu Dhabi that the total number of young volunteers registered to work in the polling stations and centers reached 2000 volunteers and volunteers, confirming that they will hand the candidates lists of members of the electoral bodies of their emirates as soon as the list of final candidates is announced on September 3 .

In addition, the Committee organized its first briefing to review the latest developments of the Federal National Council (FNC) 2019 as part of its efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership with the media and to raise awareness and knowledge of the electoral process and its activities.

The briefing, held at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Abu Dhabi, was attended by Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi as the Chairman of the Media Information Committee and the Deputy Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs Tariq Hilal Lootah as Chairman of the Election Management Committee and Assistant Undersecretary for Council Affairs In his capacity as Rapporteur of the National Elections Committee, as well as representatives of the local media and a number of media leaders in the country.

Upgrading parliamentary work

"The process of empowering citizens in the UAE and enhancing its contribution to the decision-making process continues and draws inspiration from its vision of the political empowerment program launched by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, The National Day 34 in 2005, which aims to enable the Federal National Council to be the authority to support and guide the executive authority, and be more closely related to the issues of citizens and their concerns and able to discuss and propose appropriate solutions to them ».

The Council's elections this year are a practical reflection of the qualitative development of the electoral process within the program of enhancing political participation, which strengthens the principle of consultation adopted by the state. It also represents an important step in instilling a culture of political development among the members of the society, stressing that the participation of the electoral bodies in this version is a national necessity that contributes to the continued empowerment of the FNC and enhances its role.

Al-Kaabi praised the media efforts in following up and publishing the news related to the elections of the National Assembly, as it contributed to raising awareness about the electoral process and reaching all segments of society, stressing that the media was and remains the strategic partner of the NEC.

During the briefing, Tariq Lootah, the Chairman of the Election Management Committee, and the Rapporteur of the National Elections Committee, Dr. Saeed Al-Ghafli, responded to media questions and inquiries, which focused on the achievements made during the past period, as well as the upcoming stages of the electoral process, Events and activities, and the latest developments in the electoral process.

They also provided a full explanation of the mechanisms for implementing the decision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, to raise the representation of women in the Federal National Council to 50%.

Electoral irregularities

In response to a question about the mechanisms to deal with electoral irregularities expected of those wishing to run for elections, Lootah said that the Election Management Committee will work hard to balance matters related to electoral irregularities out of its keenness not to impede the process of the electoral process, and then will not stand by the candidates, Any voter may deal with the irregularities that he has committed in accordance with the legal means mentioned in the executive instructions, namely to file a complaint or appeal against the offending candidate, so that the concerned committees may play their role in dealing with them.

Regarding the expected facilities for voters during the voting process, he stressed that the National Election Commission allocated three days for early voting, two days before voting in the diplomatic headquarters of the country abroad, and 39 polling stations to be allocated on the day of the presidential election, The voter has the right to vote according to his circumstances, pointing out that the number of young volunteers to work in the polling stations was 2,000 people, exceeding the average of our needs of volunteers by about 900 people.

Reasons to reduce «silence»

In response to a question by Al-Emarat Al-Youm on the reasons for reducing the period of electoral silence, Lootah said that "electoral silence is a means applied in the majority of the world to alleviate the pressures and burdens of the electoral process. But after a study, we found that these pressures did not affect us, so the decision was to allow as much time as possible for the voter to benefit from publicity. "

Al-Ghafli said in a press statement: "The voting process will begin on the 22nd of this month at the headquarters of missions and diplomatic bodies distributed in 120 countries around the world, and will continue for two consecutive days, adding that the members of the electoral bodies residing in those countries will be able to choose who represents them easily, Given the readiness and plan adopted by the National Election Commission ».

On the lack of comprehensive lists of members of the electoral bodies allows candidates to identify members of their constituencies in order to communicate with them and attract them, Al-Ghafli explained that the Committee decided to determine the deadline for the announcement of the list of final candidates, a date for the submission of candidates lists of members of electoral bodies.

He said: «After the announcement of the main lists of candidates will be entitled to each candidate to obtain a list of names of electoral bodies of the local election committee that he represents».

8 achievements for the citizen

The National Elections Committee confirmed that the experiences of the elections of the Federal National Council conducted in 2006, 2011 and 2015 represent important stations on the path of political participation in the state and a qualitative development in the method aimed at finding some kind of political electoral practice, pointing out that the three trials achieved eight progress achievements, Have greatly contributed to the promotion of political awareness among citizens.

In a statistical report prepared for the media, the committee pointed out that the first electoral processes in the country (2006) were conducted through electoral bodies that were formed by (100) multiples of representatives of each emirate in the Federal National Council - at a minimum - Voters) to elect half of the members of the Council an important step in the development of gradual political participation in the state, indicating that this experience showed a qualitative maturity characterized by the participants in the elections, especially by voters, whose participation exceeded 74% of the members of electoral bodies, Clear on their interest in the success of the experience and participation In the electoral process effectively. The results of the experiment have also been positive, the most important of which is the enhancement of the participation of women with the first female member of the Council and the decision of the Rulers of the Emirates to appoint eight female members, bringing the number of women to nine out of 40 members by 22.5%.

The committee said that the first electoral experiment was followed by the promulgation of a constitutional amendment number (1) for 2009, which extended the term of the Federal National Council from two to four years, extending the term from six months to more than seven months. In elaborating its rules of procedure and expanding its terms of reference with respect to international treaties and conventions concluded by the Government.

She pointed out that the second electoral experience (2011) witnessed a qualitative development, which is the increase in the level of political participation of citizens in the elections of the Federal National Council, and the increase in the number of electoral bodies to 135,308 voters (more than 22 times the same as in 2006).

She said that the elections of the third Federal National Council in 2015 witnessed a large number of members of electoral bodies, which reached 224,281 voters, an increase of 66% on the number of members of electoral bodies in 2011. The number of candidates was 330 candidates, 74 women, pointing out that these elections participated 97 thousand and 157 voters, equivalent to 35.29% of the total number of members of the electoral bodies.

The Committee stressed that the past three electoral experiences have produced young people with promising ideas and full awareness of the specificity of the Emirati society stemming from its values ​​and heritage, as witnessed by the deliberations of the Federal National Council during its last three legislative sessions.