2019 Emirati parliamentary election

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Politics of the United Arab Emirates
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Parliamentary elections were held in the United Arab Emirates on 5 October 2019 to elect half of the members (i.e., 20 members) of the Federal National Council. As there were no political parties at the time of the elections, all candidates ran as independents.

The elections took place through an electoral college, the membership of which was expanded from 224,279 in 2015 to 337,738 in 2019.[1]

Electoral system[]

The Federal National Council consists of 40 members, 20 of whom are appointed by the rulers of each emirate.[2][3] and 20 are elected by single non-transferable vote in seven electoral colleges based on the emirates. The colleges of Abu Dhabi and Dubai elects four members each, the colleges of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah three each, and the colleges of Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al-Quwain two each.[4] Voters can vote for only one candidate in their emirate.[5]

In December 2018, President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a directive that half the members of the Council should be women.[6]

Under the constitution of the United Arab Emirates, "each emirate shall be free to determine the method of selecting the citizens representing it in the Federal National Council". The rulers of each emirate decides who will be able to vote;[7] the total number of voters has increased at each election, with an objective that all citizens will be able to vote in the future.[8]

On election day, 39 voting centers were opened in the UAE, nine of which had been open for early voting on 1–3 October. Overseas voters were able to vote in UAE embassies on 22–23 September.[9]

Campaign[]

A total of 479 candidates contested the elections.[10]

Results[]

A total of 117,592 voters were cast, giving a voter turnout of 34.81%. The number of votes cast increased by 48.5% compared to the 2015 elections.[11]

The UAE has a 50% quota system for women in parliament. Therefore 50% of all parliament seats are reserved for women. As a result of the quota system, seven of the 20 elected members were women,[12] although the sole incumbent elected female MP failed to win re-election in Ras al-Khaimah.[13] To achieve gender parity, 13 of the 20 appointed members were women.[12]

PartyVotes%Seats
Independents20
Total20
Total votes117,592–
Registered voters/turnout337,73834.82
Source: The National

Elected members[]

Emirate Elected members Votes Notes
Abu Dhabi 2,624
2,495
444
370
Ajman 680
114
Dubai 1,517 Re-elected
1,032
374
333
Fujairah 2,160 Re-elected
955
Ras al-Khaimah 2,569
1,649
1,501
Sharjah 1,227
985
947
Umm al-Quwain 919
270
Source: The National

References[]

  1. ^ FNC candidate registration centres launched Gulf News, 7 August 2019
  2. ^ "A vote for the country's future". gulfnews.com. September 25, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
  3. ^ "About the Federal National Council". khaleejtimes.com. 4 July 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
  4. ^ Electoral system IPU
  5. ^ Federal National Council elections: how to vote The National, 30 September 2019
  6. ^ Sheikh Khalifa: UAE's Federal National Council to be 50 per cent women The National, 8 December 2018
  7. ^ "البوابة الرسمية لحكومة الإمارات العربية المتحدة". www.government.ae. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  8. ^ The Political System of the UAE Archived 2010-05-03 at the Wayback Machine Government of the United Arab Emirates
  9. ^ FNC election, everything you need to know Gulf News, 30 September 2019
  10. ^ The nation votes: residents head to polling stations for landmark FNC elections The National, 5 October 2019
  11. ^ "اللجنة الوطنية للانتخابات تعلن النتائج الأولية للفائزين في انتخابات المجلس الوطني الاتحادي 2019". UAE National Electoral Commission, 6 October 2019.
  12. ^ a b Newly elected members of Federal National Council revealed The National, 6 October 2019
  13. ^ Election results National Election Commission
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