ABU DHABI // The National Election Commission has been overwhelmed by applications – most of them from women – to volunteer for the FNC elections.

It is now training 1,400 volunteers from the 2,549 who applied after the offers were reviewed by a committee.

“It is great to see so many women taking part in the coming elections and having so many women volunteer in the organisation of the elections, especially as we embark on the first UAE Women’s Day,” said Ahlam Al Lamki, a director at the General Women’s Union.

ABU DHABI // Candidates for the Federal National Council have told of their reasons for stepping forward, as the objection process for the elections began on Monday.

Sheikh Musallam Salem bin Ham Al Ameri said the people of his emirate had asked him to nominate himself. “The idea was crossing my mind, but when the people asked me to run I was happy to,” said Sheikh Al Ameri, 37, chief executive of Kolluna Al Emarat.

The society promotes Emirati identity and trains nationals to deal with emergencies.

ABU DHABI // Candidates for the Federal National Council will undergo a three-day workshop to prepare them for their upcoming election campaigns.

The workshops, run by the General Secretariat of the FNC, will include sessions on parliamentary knowledge and advice on how to organise their campaigns.

This includes: how to create a campaign team, how to communicate with the voters, how to set up the campaign budget and how to use social media, said Dr Mohammed Al Mazrouei, the secretary general of the council.

Abu Dhabi: As a part of the preparations by the National Election Committee (NEC) for the Federal National Council elections, the UAE Embassies and diplomatic missions abroad have commenced work to conduct the voting process.

In line with the framework of coordination between NEC and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the procedures guide and ballot boxes for the elections have been dispatched to UAE diplomatic missions abroad.

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has admitted that voter registration is still slow but clarified that this has nothing to do with the start of the new academic year.
Hamad Al-Omar, who heads the ministry’s media and public affairs department, was quoted as saying by a local publication on Monday that election stations open promptly at 4 p.m.

JEDDAH: Tribal politics has once again come into play in Hafr Al-Baten in the Eastern Province, with the city witnessing “primaries” to choose a common candidate, local media reported Sunday.
Lobbying for common candidates reportedly started in the month of Ramadan, although such practice is banned by the Interior Ministry.
Social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp raged with campaigns to form tribal blocs to choose potential candidates for the Dec. 12 municipal elections.

Nombre de candidatures déposées, de postes à pourvoir, d’instances accréditées, d’observateurs mobilisés : ce qu’il faut retenir des élections communales et régionales qui se tiendront le 4 septembre prochain.

130 925 : Le nombre total des candidats aux prochaines élections communales et régionales est de 130 925.

1 691 : soit le nombre de listes de candidatures électorales présentées pour les prochaines élections communales. Elles comportent 60 381 candidats.

70 544 : les candidatures individuelles aux élections communales sont quant à elles au nombre de  70 544.

Abu Dhabi: The electoral process for the Federal National Council elections 2015 has reached an important milestone with completion of the registration of candidates and the announcement of the preliminary list of candidates, said Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairman of the National Election Committee.