The UAE National Election Committee (NEC) has announced the preliminary list of 469 candidates for the Federal National Council elections scheduled for September 24.

The preliminary list includes members of the electoral colleges who nominated themselves as candidates.

The total number of candidates in Abu Dhabi is 117, Dubai (124), Sharjah (94), Ras Al Khaimah (60), Ajman (34), Umm Al Quwain (19) and Fujairah (21). The final list will be announced on August 28.

Nominations submitted by a number of candidates have been turned down as they did not fulfill the official candidate registration requirements.

The Emirates' election committees receives applications and forwards them to the election management committee which in turn reviews the applications.

Those applications that do not fulfil the official candidate requirements are turned down while only  those that meet all requirements are accepted.

The UAE’s focus on enabling women to participate actively in the political life reflects clearly in the preliminary list, which includes 85 female candidates, 22 in Abu Dhabi, 26 in Dubai, 16 in Sharjah, 9 in Ras Al Khaimah, 5 in Ajman,  4 in Umm Al Quwain and 3 in Fujairah, said a senior official.

"The announcement of the preliminary list of candidates marks a significant step along the road towards FNC elections 2011," said Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for Federal National Council and Chairman of the National Election Committee.

With this step, the members of the electoral colleges assume a key role in terms of participation or choosing their representatives for the Council," he remarked.

"The increase in the number of candidates in this year’s elections shows the growing political awareness among the electoral college members," he noted.

"We saw candidates submitting their applications across all the emirates responsibly, indicating a higher level of maturity in the electoral experience in its second edition,” Dr Gargash said.

"The registration of candidates went ahead smoothly and positively as the National Election Committee and the UAE Committees co-operated fully to ensure the success and effectiveness of the electoral process in every stage,” he added.

Each candidate has been provided with an ID code, which will identify the candidate and be used in the electronic voting system. A vote can be cast by pressing on the image of the candidate or on his ID number on the electronic voting machine, he explained.

Objections against candidates in the preliminary list can be filed by August 23, said Dr Gargash.

The National Election Committee will look into these objections on August 24 and 25 before announcing the final list on August 28, he added.-TradeArabia News Service