Electoral Colleges to be announced on July 11

Dubai: The total number of Electoral Colleges for the second elections to the UAE’s Federal National Council (FNC) will be announced on July 11, Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for FNC Affairs, told a group of Emiratis here on Tuesday.\

Dr Gargash was speaking at a Dubai Women’s Establishment event at the Grand Hyatt Hotel as part of a programme to spread awareness on the FNC elections, scheduled to be held on September 24.

The poll results will be announced later the same day, the minister said. The September 24 polls will elect half the members of the UAE legislature house, while the other half will be appointed by the nation’s Rulers. The process of filing nominations for the elections will begin on August 14 and will continue for three days.

Registration of nominations will be undertaken at 13-14 polling stations across the country, compared to seven in 2006.

Dr Gargash said the process of citizen’s participation in UAE politics is still in its nascent stages and will continue to develop gradually.

“Our vision [of participatory politics] preceded the Arab Spring. Some people think we have been late in achieving [citizen’s participation] in the UAE and they have a right to that opinion … but it is important for us to learn from our experiences,” he said.
The minister said he would be “the first to admit” that the FNC’s powers were “modest”, but stressed the importance of gradual reforms, adding that his ministry was working tirelessly to study and prepare for the widening of citizen’s participation.

Dr Gargash cited the more than ten-fold growth in the Electoral Colleges since the last elections as an example. He said it was important not to let elections in the UAE split society and voting practices along tribal, familial and sectarian lines — a trend which he said was observed in the 2006 polls.

— With inputs from WAM