Three days from now, the results of the Federal National Elections will be announced and the run-up to this important day has been driven by the deep commitment of Emiratis to their national cause. The robust voting by Emiratis, from the elderly with mobility issues and frail health to the young and ambitious and everyone else in between, has revealed affirmation of the highest kind at this year’s elections.
The predicating element of an election is the participation of citizens. It is the driving force and, inarguably, the single most influential factor in how a country’s ambitions will bear fruit, because an election is an invaluable opportunity for its citizens to make choices and through them, shape their future. The more vigorous their participation in an election, the better the actualisation of the national agenda.
This year, more than 224,000 Emiratis were eligible to cast their vote to elect 20 members of the council and across the emirates, and their enthusiasm for the empowerment programme initiated by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and their clarity of purpose in picking candidates, was on full display. Every voter was in complete cognisance of what he or she wanted for their country and approached their choice of candidates with prudence and progressiveness. This is an infallible sign of citizen maturity, an element that is an essential nutrient of electoral health. And this year’s voter turnout has shown that the UAE is heading for its Vision 2021 with unbridled energy.
