SHARJAH // A mother and her daughter will lock horns in the first elections to a local council in the country.
On Tuesday, the last day of candidates’ registration for the Sharjah Consultative Council, Munira Al Suwaidi and her mother Umm Saif submitted their papers just before the 3pm deadline.
“Me and my mother are registering for council membership and we will face each other during the campaign,” said Ms Al Suwaidi, 27.
Umm Saif, who finished her studies and gained a degree in family guidance while raising her children, encouraged her daughter to stand.
“I convinced her to apply with me. We need young Emiratis pitching in and contributing in building the country,” she said.
Umm Saif said she would campaign hard to win election, while still supporting her daughter’s bid.
“If I get elected, I will focus my work on Emirati families – how to empower them and create a better living conditions for them,” she said.
Ms Al Suwaidi, who works as an architect for Dubai Municipality, said she was delighted when she heard the age for candidacy had been lowered to involve more young people in the elections. The minimum age was 30 during the last term.
“When I heard the age was lowered to 25 it gave me motivation to have my input as an Emirati young woman in the council,” she said.
If elected, Ms Al Suwaidi said she would work to empower women.
“I will focus on women’s issues and youth in general, finding housing solutions for newly-wed Emiratis without having them buried in debt.”
Khaled Al Shamsi, 46, a director at Sharjah TV, also submitted his papers and hoped to be the first disabled person elected to the council.
“I will spend my time in improving the benefits for people with disabilities,” Mr Al Shamsi said. “They need to be provided with medical assistance and subsidies due to the high prices of medical equipment, like hearing aids and wheelchairs.”
Mubarak Al Shamsi, head of the election committee in Al Hamriya, said a woman, on Tuesday, registered to stand in the area’s only seat.
Nine registration centres were open. Candidates must be Sharjah citizens who are literate, have a good standing in the community and have no criminal record.
Half of the 42 seats on the council will be filled through ballot after Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, announced elections in June.
Six council seats are spread across Sharjah city, while nine others are distributed evenly between Al Dhaid, Khor Fakkan and Kalba. There are two seats for Dibba Al Hisn, while Al Hamriya, Al Batayeh, Mleiha and Al Madam have one each.
Election officials say so far 25,000 Sharjah citizens have registered to vote for the elections, to be held next month.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
