«National Elections» warns candidates from the trap «electoral promises»

The National Elections Commission (NEC), wishing to run for the Federal National Council (FNC) 2019 elections, warned that many candidates wishing to run for elections would not be in line with the role of the National Assembly because many of them do not know the powers The UAE Parliament.

The committee, during a training workshop presented by the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs, Dr. Saeed Mohammed Al-Ghafli, confirmed that each candidate determines the cost of his electoral campaign during the registration of the candidacy, not exceeding two million dirhams, stressing that the state will not interfere. In funding the campaigns of candidates, and will not provide any compensation to them for what they spend on the nomination.

The National Elections Committee organized a training workshop for citizens wishing to run for the Federal National Council elections from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi at the headquarters of the Electoral Commission, which included a lecture by Dr. Saeed Mohammed Al-Ghafli and an open discussion with citizens about the mechanisms and procedures for running for elections.

Al-Ghafli said that the number of members of electoral bodies is 337,738 members, an increase of 50.58% compared to lists of electoral bodies in 2015, including 100,000 young people between the ages of 21 and 33, representing 33% of the electoral lists.

He stressed that all those interested in running for elections should be aware of the powers of the Federal National Council and the role and function of the Council member in particular, so as not to interfere in the making of electoral promises and pledges far from his parliamentary powers.

Al-Ghafli advised those wishing to run for candidacy to know all the details of the election schedule and its stages, considering that the period from 18 to 22 August is the most important for them, as it is the date of receiving applications to run.

He stressed that the National Elections Committee decided, on the basis of facilitating the citizens, the possibility of using the agent for the candidate, especially as the registration period of applications for candidates coincides with summer vacations, provided that the agent of the candidate is the official agency of the electoral registration, approved by the notary public, , Provided that such agent holds a scientific certificate not less than secondary.

He said that this year the electoral process will witness the possibility of presenting each candidate with a personal picture instead of the picture on the ID card.

Al-Ghafli mentioned the right of any citizen to stand for election to the National Assembly if he meets a number of special conditions. He is to be a member of the electoral commission in the emirate to which he belongs and permanently resides in the emirate he wishes to represent in the Council. Has the civil capacity, has a good reputation, has not been convicted of an offense against honor, unless he has been rehabilitated according to the law and has sufficient knowledge of reading and writing. He called on those wishing to run to start issuing certificates of criminal status.

He added that each candidate is entitled to receive donations for his campaign, provided that they are citizens or national institutions. He pointed out that the electoral silence period is reduced from 48 hours to nine hours, because the committee considered that the length of the electoral silence will not lead to positive results on the electoral process.

The workshop referred to the decision of His Highness the President to allocate 50% of the seats of the Federal National Council for Women, if Ghafli considered this decision one of the positive dimensions of the electoral process, explaining that the selection of female members of the Council will be either by election or appointment by the rulers of the emirates.

He explained that the decision granted the right to the Ruler's Court in each emirate to choose between the two methods (election or appointment) to ensure that the percentage of women's representation is 50% in the Council. The Ruler's Court in each emirate is entitled to take either of the two methods And the appointment together.

"The elections are based on a large number of years of experience gained by the candidate within the state, what can be provided, and what extent," Ghadli said. Knowledge of laws and rules ».

Al-Ghafli said that the committee examined all the proposals and settled in its decision to give the member of the electoral body his vote for one candidate, For fear of imbalance between the two categories.

Mubarak al-Mansouri asked about the conditions of candidacy and the possibility of changing the requirement of the educational certificate to be at least a university. Al-Ghafli said: "Everyone who holds UAE nationality has a number of rights, including political rights that prove affiliation, not education. .

"The young people have the right to get support for their propaganda campaigns from the unofficial national authorities, or citizens to go to them and convince them of their program," she said.

"Our electoral system allows members of the electoral body to vote from anywhere, provided that the vote is for a candidate of the electorate," he said.

In a question to the citizen Sheikha al-Suwaidi about the election leave for the candidate, and whether it is deducted from the balance, Al-Ghafli said: "It is normal to be deducted from the holiday leaves of the candidate, and if he does not have a leave balance, leave without a salary."

Presence

The training workshop organized by the National Elections Committee witnessed a numerical increase in male attendance. Most of the seats reserved for men were filled in the lecture hall, while nearly half of the seats reserved for women remained empty, despite the presence of a number of women candidates. .

Workshop for the coordinators of the Emirates committees

The NEC organized a training workshop for the coordinators of the Emirates committees and executive officers working in the registration centers, on the candidate registration system and the collection system.

The workshop aimed at explaining registration procedures for candidates, in addition to the legal rules governing the registration process, while ensuring that the employees in the registration centers are equipped with the technical skills and work skills in the registration centers of the candidates and enable them to acquire the skills of dealing with those wishing to run. Provided by the NEC.

Deputy Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, Tareq Hilal Lootah, said that the electoral process stands at an important and pivotal stage in the process of running for membership of the Council, which is one of the most important stages because of its direct link To the members of the electoral bodies, who wish to nominate themselves, and hence the importance of creating effective communication mechanisms and procedures, and the creation of intelligent technical tools to facilitate the registration process, and contribute to achieve the highest levels of happiness and satisfaction of customers.

• «National Elections» stressed the need to be interested in all wishing to run by the powers of the National Council.