This week, the country goes to the polls – or at least those citizens who have been chosen as members of the Electoral Colleges in each of the emirates. The polling day is October 3, but those wishing to vote early were able to do so yesterday. They can exercise their franchise until tomorrow. People travelling, studying or working overseas could vote last week at a total of 94 different locations around the world.
The country has come a long way since the last FNC elections and so too has the FNC itself, as is shown by the fact that more than 300 candidates are seeking to win the 20 seats available. That suggests that the council itself is increasingly gaining recognition as an important part of the system of governance.
This year, there are some key changes. There are now 224,279 members of the Electoral Colleges, a significant increase over last time. There is no reliable public data available on the total number of Emirati citizens, or of those who are adults and therefore qualified to be chosen for the colleges.
If one assumes, though, that something like a third are too young to vote and that the number of citizens is around a million, that would suggest that somewhere between 30 and 35 per cent of Emiratis have the vote this time.
When the principle of partial elections for the FNC was first introduced, with fewer than 7,000 members of the first Electoral Colleges, it was stated that this was the initiation of a process of gradually expanding popular participation. This week, we can see how the Government has delivered on that promise. It provides an interesting contrast to what has happened in much of the rest of the region over the past few years.
Simply having the right to vote isn't enough, however. If it is to be meaningful, it has to be used. In the last FNC elections, turnout was a disappointing 28 per cent. One reason may have been a lack of a tradition of voting – that takes time to grow. Another may have been insufficient knowledge of the role that the FNC plays, though there is, one hopes, a better understanding this time.
Yet another was the lack of polling stations – as I noted at the time, some people had to drive a great distance to cast their ballots. This time, there are more polling stations – even at Silaa – while the early voting option also makes it easier. So does the introduction of voting for those overseas. However few votes were cast abroad, it's right that people should have been given the opportunity to do so.
I shall wait, with interest, to see the turnout this time – but I hope that it will have risen substantially, giving greater legitimacy in terms of a popular mandate for the new FNC members.
The candidates have had to try harder this time. With each elector having only one vote, those who have distinguished themselves by their campaigning techniques and their proposals should benefit. There will be no riding on the coat-tails of others. That's all to the good.
Looking ahead, though, the newly-elected FNC members have much to do to win the confidence of the public, whether those with votes this time, or those who may have votes next time. They need, in my view, to engage more with the media to explain what they're doing. I would like to see them – during the lifetime of the next FNC, not just at the next election – going around schools and universities to educate the voters of the future. Only by doing so will the FNC and the UAE’s developing experiment in popular participation gain the legitimacy it needs to be able to contribute effectively to the country's progress.
In the meantime, as Saturday approaches, I wish all candidates the best of luck. May the best men – and women – win.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture
