2nd ever elections in the UAE

**Caveat** I am no expert on this topic and am just passing along what I have gleaned in keeping up with the news here and some of this is based on memory (which is, of course, fallible!).

Today, Saturday (Sept. 24th) is election day here in the UAE.  It's the 2nd election for this young 40-year old country (the first was in 2006).  12% of the citizenship is eligible to vote as a part of the electoral college (up from less than 1% in the '06 election).  I'm not exactly sure the criteria on how the 120+K voters were selected (the Royal Courts selected them) out of the Emirati population of 1M+ but they do include women as well.  For the first time, voting machines will be used.  It sounds like the jump from about 6,000 to 120,000 voters is meant to be a continuous enlargement until more universal participation down the line.

The 20 different positions are allocated amongst the seven different emirates with Dubai and Abu Dhabi getting more positions that the less populated ones of Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah and Ajman.

They are electing 20 representatives for the Federal National Council (FNC) and another 20 representatives will be appointed by the government.  The FNC is an advisory council which is meant to be the interface between the people and the government.  But any recommendations they have are non-binding and they cannot pass laws on their own.  There is debate that seems to go on as to how much influence the FNC has - from it doesn't do much to others who feel that it is in line with the collaborative and consensus-building culture here.  Some seem to think that the degree of voter turnout will influence what any future elections might look like (for example, high turnout might more quickly lead to greater inclusion of more eligible voters).  Some citizens have expressed that they don't see the point in even needing elections since they are so well taken care of by the government and others seem to think that this is too little in terms of increasing the voice of citizens (some of the stronger voices are currently under trial for insulting the gov't).

There are a little more than 450 candidates running for the 20 slots.  About 85 of these are women.  In the last election, one woman was elected and an additional 8 were appointed for a total of about 22% female on the council.   I think many who aren't familiar with the UAE (and how it is very different from its Saudi neighbor) might be surprised at the relatively higher degree of female participation in the government (the FNC and different minister and ambassador positions).

Many of the campaign messages are in Arabic so it's hard to get a true sense of the different platforms but different themes I have picked up on that candidates are campaigning on are how to maintain the tradition of the UAE tribal culture while still improving quality of life, housing issues (housing is very expensive here), women's rights, education, increasing Emirati workforce participation/ unemployment.  Really, a lot of the same issues you hear during election time almost anywhere.

Below are a few of the campaign ads and signs that are out and about.

UAE flag and campaign sign behind the soccer stadium

Newspaper ad from one of the 85 female candidates

Lots of cute little signs (in Arabic) along a road for candidate #766

I lived in '98 and '99 in another country (South Africa) also only 4-5 years after its first democratic election.  South Africa in '98 was such a time of hope and enthusiasm.  Do you remember photos like this one showing the millions of people standing in lines snaking all over for their first time to vote?

Photo from 1994 first democratic election in South Africa (4 1/2 years
before I moved there)