Now that the Federal National Council (FNC) election is over, congratulations are in order to the winners of the 20 contested seats. We hope that they fulfil their campaign promises and work hard to represent the UAE people in the legislature.
Their contribution is an essential part of the national development process. The outgoing council’s record was remarkable. The outgoing members should be proud of what they have achieved. They have passed 55 draft laws in 66 meetings during their four-year term, which ended on June 15. All of those legislations impact the people, such as the National Service Law, the Companies Law, the Anti-Terrorism Law and the Anti-Money Laundering Law. The house also passed the Child Rights Law, the Food Safety Law, and the Private Medical Institutions Law, among others. The council also approved a law on compulsory education and created a specialised committee to support the country’s human rights efforts at home and abroad. Such efforts made in the previous council must prompt the new members to work even harder to develop the UAE democratic experience.
The election campaigns and the polls that just ended were a source of pride too. Looking at most of the candidates’ campaigns, one can very well notice a great deal of maturity in the way the FNC hopefuls presented their ideas, especially the issues they have adopted, such as education, youth issues, development of the health sector and issues relevant to the national economy.
The turnout meanwhile was very good, as expected. Images of voters, old and young, standing in line to cast their votes reflect a solid belief in the UAE’s endeavour to develop its own democratic path. A good job was done by the National Election Committee in organising and promoting the polling process. They deserve our gratitude. Again, congratulations to the winners of yesterday’s polls and better luck next time to those who lost but made the election an interesting process to follow.
