Polls open in historic election
2,177 voters to cast ballots today in first phase Federal National Council elections
Abu Dhabi/Fujairah: Voting is under way in the UAE's first ever elections.
Members of the Electoral College in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah are casting their votes to elect six members for the Federal National Council (FNC).
The historic move kick-starts efforts towards greater public representation in the country, and will see half of the Council elected by the 6,689 members of the Electoral College, including more than 1,100 women.
The polls opened early this morning and will stay open for voting until 6pm.
Today in Abu Dhabi, 1,759 voters will select four FNC members from among 100 candidates, while 418 voters in Fujairah will elect two members from among 33 candidates.
Voters will descend on the polling stations in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah from throughout the emirates.
Many Fujairah voters will make their way from Dibba Al Fujairah, 70km away, along with voters from a number of other towns and villages along the east coast.
Preliminary results
Many observers anticipate the real competition to be limited to six or seven of the emirate's 33 candidates. With only one female candidate, the prospect of Fujairah being one of the emirates to produce a woman member for the FNC cannot be ruled out.
Election campaigns have been largely reserved with only a few choosing to make use of advertising in national papers. Advertising boards, sprinkled around the roads and sidewalks, have been the most evident public signs of electioneering.
There has been a broad sense of agreement between candidates that in the case of Fujairah, where almost all Electoral College members are known to each other, personal, one-to-one contact is a more effective method of winning votes.
In his 2005 National Day speech, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, urged the electorate to participate in the elections to kick-start the programme announced by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to empower the FNC.
Polling will be held in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah on Monday, while the electorates in Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain will vote on Wednesday.
Preliminary results for both emirates are expected to be released by 8pm tonight.
