Assistant Undersecretary for Federal National Council Affairs at the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs, member and rapporteur of the National Elections Commission, Dr. Saeed Al-Ghafli, said that media coverage of the file of "polygamy" is not contrary, especially as the candidate talks about the issue of the delay in marriage age.

He said that there are six basic propaganda prohibitions, which candidates should avoid "because they will be met with deterrent measures if they are committed", most notably: the use of religion in propaganda, fraudulent voters, and the promotion of matters or issues not included in the approved electoral program.

He expected that the elections of the Council, which is scheduled to be held on the fifth of next October, a large turnout of citizens, exceeding the barrier of 150 thousand voters, representing half of the members of the electoral bodies, 300 thousand and 333 citizens.

In a seminar organized by the Journalists Association, Al-Ghafli said that the high acceptance of citizens for the political participation of women was the main supporter of the decision to raise their representation in the Federal National Council to 50%.

He revealed that the UAE committees did not monitor any propaganda irregularities for the election campaigns of the candidates, until its third day, pointing out that the National Media Council is concerned with monitoring and control of advertising irregularities, which may appear on social media.

Al-Ghafli said that the current elections of the Federal National Council are not just a fourth electoral experience, but it has become a merit that proved the long-term and future vision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, when he launched the political empowerment program in 2005. After another ».

Al-Ghafli spoke during the symposium, which was moderated by Abdullah Rashid, a member of the Board of Directors of the Journalists Association, and attended by a number of media and officials, including the Secretary General of the Federal National Council, Ahmed bin Shabib Al-Dhaheri, about the contribution of the political empowerment program in supporting the role of women and youth in political participation .

He said that the last three electoral cycles have created a culture of political participation among broad sectors of society, which resulted in a gradual rise in the number of candidates, bringing to 495 candidates, including 180 women.

He added that the follower of the political empowerment program since its inception, finds that the winner and the biggest beneficiary is women, whose representation under the dome of the National Assembly reached 20% during the last legislative term, and continued to progress politically by the decision of His Highness the President of the State to allocate 50% of the prosecution seats. This will reflect on the performance of the Council and the quality of the issues that will be raised in its next legislative chapter.

Al-Ghafli went on to talk about the role of youth in the program of political empowerment, saying: «When we monitor the numbers of citizens members of electoral bodies this year, which amounted to 300 thousand and 333 citizens, we will find that young people have become a major component of the electoral process, especially the age group, from 21 to 30 years , The number of nearly 100,000 citizens, representing 33% of the total number of voters in the country, and reflects the direction of the political leadership towards the empowerment of young people in the next stage at the level of the legislative authority », expected that the composition of the Federal National Council, in its new legislative chapter, a large number Of the young members.

Al-Ghafli referred to the election campaigns of the candidates, as he described most of them as "rationality in the presentation." He said: «We saw during the first two days of the election campaigns, reluctant candidates in the presentation of programs, but it has evolved over time, and we hope that each candidate will succeed in communicating his voice and put it to the people through the various propaganda available, the more mature campaigns the impact is greater, which is We are counting heavily on increasing voter turnout, which we hope and expect to reach 50% of the total number of members of the electoral bodies. ”

Al-Ghafli affirmed that some election campaigns raised public debate on social media, such as the campaign of polygamy candidate, Al-Ghafli affirmed that all electoral programs presented by candidates in their campaigns were presented to the committees of the UAE and obtained approvals from them. The programs are somewhat different from what has been presented, although they do not contradict or interfere with the approved program, for example in the story of (polygamy), the candidate said in her election program that she will address the file of the age of marriage, and will work to provide solutions, which is What was approved, but addressed only Lamy this file included one of the points that will be based on a solution to this issue, which is not illegal, especially as it is talking about a general topic affects society ».

He explained that the National Election Commission has set controls for propaganda campaigns, and punish offenders, but does not intervene in minor, but warns from a distance, pointing out that the UAE committees did not register or monitor any propaganda irregularities for candidates since the start of the election campaigns until the third day.

Al-Ghafli listed a number of propaganda prohibitions that candidates should avoid in order to avoid penalties, most notably the use of religion in propaganda, fraudulent voters, the promotion of matters or issues not included in the electoral program approved by the Emirate Committee, or placing posters on private cars, taxis or Public transport buses, and the use of neighborhood councils and public councils as headquarters for election campaigns, in addition to the use of any official slogans in the campaigns, stressing that «those violations will be met with deterrent measures».

In response to a question by the UAE Today about the impact of the phenomenon of the announcement of some candidates to withdraw from the elections for the benefit of other candidates, in what is known as «shadow candidates», Al-Ghafli said: «I do not consider (the shadow candidate) our electoral phenomenon, because the withdrawals are individual and limited number Therefore, it can be said that they are the result of the maturity of the candidates who retreated after assessing their electoral situation properly, and found that their chances are not great », revealing that some candidates did not apply to their committees in the UAE election programs in the first place.

9 Early Voting Centers

The National Election Commission (NEC) has allocated nine polling stations nationwide for the early voting process scheduled for October 1st-3rd.

The early voting process will start at 10 am and continue until 6 pm, with voting under the Emirates Identity Card as the only valid document in the electoral process.

There will also be female delegates and staff on the committees, who will match the identities of female voters who wear the niqab, to make sure there is no difference.

150

One thousand votes, the expected number of participants in the elections «NBK».

Saeed Al Ghafli:

"The UAE committees did not monitor any propaganda irregularities for the election campaigns of the candidates until its third day."