AL AIN // Local election committees should have the power to penalise candidates for campaign breaches at next year’s FNC election, a forum has heard.
The Ministry of State for FNC Affairs held its third summit on political awareness at UAE University yesterday.
Officials from local election committees said that although no breaches were committed by the 450 candidates in the last elections, mistakes were made.
Mansour bin Nasser, former head of the Sharjah election committee and an official from the Ruler’s Court, called on the ministry to give local committees the power to penalise candidates without the higher committee’s approval.
“There were no violations,” Mr bin Nasser said. “For us to label them as a violations would mean they were intended.
“But these mistakes made by the candidates were not intended and were just the result of little awareness.”
He said some candidates held a forum without the local committee’s knowledge, or advertised in undesignated areas.
“We want the power to remove an advertisement if found in the wrong place without needing to refer back to the higher election committee,” Mr bin Nasser said.
“By the time we do and the higher election committee studies the complaint, the elections could be over. The whole election process was around three weeks.
“We hope next time we have the power to penalise candidates.”
Mohammed Al Suwaidi, member of the Dubai election committee and a legal adviser, said some candidates planned to exceed the Dh2 million spending cap.
“After we received candidates’ spending and media plans, we studied some of them and investigated how much it would need,” said Mr Al Suwaidi.
“In some cases they exceeded Dh2m, so we told the candidates and they modified their plans.
“We were very keen not to penalise anyone.”
The committee was legally unable to penalise anyone, but on election day it came close to disqualifying a candidate who continued to campaign.
Election rules state candidates must stop all campaigning 48 hours before election day.
Mr bin Nasser said this was to allow voters the time and space they need to make a decision for whom they would vote.
“This is to ensure equal opportunity for all candidates,” he said.
The election regulators did not go into detail on any of the candidates’ campaigns.
But Tariq Lootah, undersecretary of the ministry and a member of the National Election Committee, said candidates needed to read about the FNC and become educated about their powers before running.
Mr Lootah said that candidates could not enlist “dreams” without knowing the council’s role, and that the ministry would study introducing training in the future.
osalem@thenational.ae
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
More on animal trafficking
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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
