Abu Dhabi: Citizens’ level of awareness about the Federal National Council’s (FNC) role continues to mature with every election, according to academics in the UAE.

Praising the FNC’s influential role in pushing for a positive change, Dr Sulaiman Al Jasem, former vice-president of Zayed University, said that the Council has proven to have an influential role in echoing people’s voices and ensuring that they reach the higher bodies.

“Voting in these elections is a national responsibility. The Council is essentially the voice of Emiratis, who should make their way to the polling centres to feel that they have a stake in building a prosperous UAE,” he added.

“Not only is the participation central because it is a national duty but also as it expands citizens’ knowledge about the importance of having a Council, which is one of the country’s main cornerstones. The elections continue to witness major improvements every year, and the nationals’ wealth of information will increase accordingly,” he noted.

Dr Al Jasem urged Emiratis to go to polling centres on today to cast their ballots for their desired candidates. He said their participation ensures that the country continues to mature politically at the international level.

Dr Ayesha Al Nuaimi, Associate professor of Mass Communications at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), said that the Council acts as a messenger between the people and the government.

“Not only does Emiratis’ level of awareness about the Council continue to grow, but so does the number of eligible voters, which has almost doubled in comparison to 2006, when the FNC was in its infancy. I do hope that more voters will be able to cast their ballots in future elections,” she explained.

As far as the candidates’ political campaigns are concerned, Dr Ayesha said that she was hoping many of them would have been based more on Emiratis’ everyday lives and some of the challenges they struggle to overcome on a day-to-day basis.

“I also would like to point out that several of the candidates have used extremely formal messages and slogans to convey their campaigns’ primary theme. I think that the language should have been a lot simpler for people to feel that they relate to them more,” she said.

Meanwhile, Dr Ayesha lauded the fact that every candidate can only receive one vote, as opposed to four in previous editions.

“While this puts more pressure on both the voter and the candidate, I think having one vote is ideal as it really propels voters to meticulously think about the one potential member who deserves to be on the council, with more of an objective mindset,” she explained.

Another academic, Dr Ebtisam Al Ketbi, Chairwoman of the Emirates Policy Centre, said that the more knowledgeable a candidate is about the country’s laws and regulations, the higher his or her chances of winning. “And the more familiarity a candidate exhibits about the laws of the country, the easier the process will be for them to convey people’s voices to the government,” Dr Ibtissam added.

 

Maisoon Mubarak is a trainee at Gulf News.