194 candidates register for FNC polls on 1st day

The National Election Committee, NEC, announced on Sunday that nine candidate registration centres across the UAE are now accepting applications for Federal National Council, FNC, membership and will continue to do so until Aug.22.

A total of 194 candidates registered on the first day, yesterday, for the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 2019, 67 of whom are women.

In a press statement issued yesterday, the NEC said the candidate registration centres across the UAE opened on Sunday and the official working hours of the centres are from 8am to 3pm, Sunday to Thursday.

In Abu Dhabi, candidate registration centres are located on the second floor of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Emirates Committee, and the Chairman Hall of the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, and Madinat Zayed Majlis. To date, 52 candidates from Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and Al Dhafra have registered to participate in the upcoming FNC elections, 20 of whom are women. In Dubai, 21 candidates applied on the first day of registration, nine of whom are women. A total of 47 applied so far in Sharjah, 15 of whom are females.

The candidate registration centre in Dubai is located in the Dubai World Trade Centre, Hatta Halls C and D. In Sharjah, the candidates have submitted their applications at the center in Hall 1 of the Sharjah Advisory Council building.

Seven Ajman-based candidates have submitted their applications at the Sheikh Humaid Hall in the Ajman Museum. Umm Al Qaiwain’s candidate registration centre, at the Social Development Center in Umm Al Qaiwain, received 13 applications.

Ras Al Khaimah Cultural Centre, the emirate’s official candidate registration centre, has received 28 registrations. Finally, Fujairah’s candidate registration centre, situated on the eighth floor of the Fujairah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has received 26 applications so far.

Tariq Hilal Lootah, Undersecretary of the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairman of the Management Committee of the FNC’s 2019 elections commended the seamless registration process and the preparedness of the Emirates Committees’ teams to receive candidate applications.

During his tour of the candidate registration centres in Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman, His Excellency praised the efforts of the specialised teams within the Emirates Committees that are relentlessly working to raise awareness of the significance of participating in the electoral process.

He said: “I am confident in our ability to host a transparent and successful election. Participating in this endeavour is a privilege for every national, we encourage all eligible UAE nationals to nominate themselves as candidates for this important national duty, or motivate capable candidates to apply, or come out and vote for their chosen candidate on election day.”

The timeline for the FNC Elections 2019 is as follows – on Sunday, August 25, NEC will announce the preliminary list of candidates.

The following three days will be open to the public should they wish to submit objection letters against any of the listed candidates. On Sunday, September 1, NEC will announce its response to the objections received. The final list of candidates will be released on Tuesday, September 3. Wednesday, September 4, marks the first day of the period provided for candidates to submit the names of their agents as per the executive orders in this matter.

The Federal National Council (FNC) is the consultative council, the parliamentary body of the UAE. It has 40 members. The current FNC is the result of the latest elections in 2015. Dr. Amal Al Qubaisi is the Chairperson and the Speaker of the Federal National Council.

As per Article 45 of the Constitution, the Federal National Council is fourth of the five federal authorities. Articles 68 to 93 lay down further provisions relating to its organisation and jurisdiction.