UAE to hold second limited polls to choose 20 representatives at Federal National Council

Voters chosen by the traditional rulers of the United Arab Emirates will cast their ballots Saturday in the second-ever polls to elect half the members of the toothless Federal National Council (FNC).

Some 129,000 Emirati citizens are expected to elect 20 representatives out of 450 candidates, including some 85 women, across the Gulf state whose leadership has promised a gradual political participation.

The size of the electoral college has significantly been enlarged after it included only 6,600 voters in 2006, the first-ever elections since the FNC was formed in 1972, a year after independence from Britain.

Running in the FNC polls is not open to all UAE citizens as candidates should come from within the lists of eligible voters named by the respective ruler of each of the seven emirates of the UAE.

Those rulers will also name the other half of FNC members.

The leadership of the country that groups seven sheikhdoms, notably Dubai and oil-rich Abu Dhabi, has urged voters to take part in the elections to achieve wider participation.

“On this important national occasion, I call upon my sons and daughters, the members of electoral bodies, to participate actively in the elections so that we can achieve real participation,� said President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan who is also the ruler of wealthy Abu Dhabi.

“We have to walk with a clear vision to empower the Federal National Council. The upcoming elections... are the perfect opportunity to take a major step towards this goal,� he said.

UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, who is also the ruler of the bustling emirate of Dubai, described the polls as a “new chapter in the success story� of the country.

He also said the elections were “a test of the people of the UAE to exercise their right in electing the candidates whom they deem as good, competent and able to carry over their views into the council.�

The FNC, however, is far from being a proper parliament.

The Council has no legislative powers and acts merely as an advisory board to the Federal Supreme Council, the country's highest governing body, made up of the rulers of the federation's seven emirates.

The National Council cannot overturn or block laws or decrees issued and ratified by the Supreme Council.

Despite a wave of pro-democracy uprisings sweeping across the Arab world as people demand a say in the running of their countries ruled by undemocratic regimes, the UAE appears under no internal pressure to rush into speedy democratization.

The rich nation provides most of its native population of some 950,000 people -- a minority in its foreign-dominated total population-- with a comfortable life and cradle-to-grave care.

In addition to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the UAE comprises the emirates of Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaiwain.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai are assigned eight seats each in the FNC, compared to six each for Ras al-Khaimah and Sharjah, and four each for the smaller emirates of Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al-Qaiwain.