Accessibility is key for FNC poll centres

Abu Dhabi: Accessibility to election centres must be a priority while designating the premises to host the Federal National Council (FNC) 2011 election to be conducted in September this year.

Addressing the sixth meeting of the National Election Commission, Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairman of the NEC, called on the heads of the Emirates subcommittees to take into consideration various criteria before deciding the location of election centres in their respective emirates.

More than 80,000 will form the electoral colleges in the seven emirates. They will take part in electing half of the 40-seat FNC.

"The ease of access and providing all the necessary logistic equipment, and sufficient number of employees that possess management and technical abilities that allow them to carry out their duties to their utmost level should be given a priority," Dr Gargash said.

Smooth conduct

The efforts of the NEC at this stage are to focus on the implementation of the electoral process that is in line with the best administrative and regulatory standards to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections, a top UAE official said.

The commission discussed final preparations for determining the headquarters of the Emirates election sub-committees, as well as polling stations.

Dr Gargash said that the efforts exerted by the NEC in conducting these final preparations strive towards completing electoral procedures using the best regulatory and management standards to ensure easy and smooth flow of the process.

He said that during the last phase, the NEC has intensified efforts in raising awareness in the UAE's programme to enhance political participation. He said that the next phase will involve an intensive plan to clarify all the details related to electoral process using the media and other methods of communication.

Dr Gargash said that there is a large increase in the number electoral college members in comparison to the 2006 elections. He said that the NEC had to intensify regulatory preparations and logistics related to the election process.