1971 December: The Federal National Council is formed under the Provisional Constitution as a permanent component of the country’s governing structure, which also includes the Supreme Council, President, Cabinet and Judiciary
1972
February 12: The Federal National Council session is held for the first time
2005
December 1: UAE President His Highness Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan announces that half of the members of the Federal National Council will be elected
2006
December 16: The FNC conducts the first ever election. The first time UAE women enter the council. There are, in fact, nine women in the current FNC. While one woman was elected, the other eight were appointed
2007
February 12: The 14th session of the FNC, the first to include elected members, is inaugurated
2008
December 2: The Constitutional amendment on the extension of FNC legislative terms from two year to four years is approved
2011
September 24: The second parliamentary election is held to elect half the members of the FNC’s 15th Chapter. Some 450 candidates across the UAE contest. The Electoral College expands from around 6,000 members in 2006 to 129,274 in 2011
November 15: The 15th Chapter of the FNC is inaugurated. The new council has 20 of its 40 members elected by a larger Electoral College
2015
April 29: The National Election Committee (NEC) announces that the third Federal National Council Elections will be held on October 3, 2015
May 27: The NEC has set up offices of the Emirates Committees in all the emirates to oversee the 2015 FNC elections
June 6:
The NEC unveils schedule for FNC elections. The opening of nominations to elections is August 13. The registration of the candidates starts and will last for five days. The preliminary list of candidates will be ready on August 23 and the final list will be announced on August 31. The last date for withdrawal of candidates is September 14. Overseas voting in UAE embassies will be on September 20 and 21.
July 5: The NEC approves the rolls with the names of 224,279 Emiratis, who are eligible to vote and contest in the election.
— Compiled by Gulf News Archives
