For the first time, around 25,000 Emiratis in Sharjah will move to polling booths on Jan. 30 to elect their councilors for the local body. Around 200 candidates, including 43 women, are in the fray for the 21 seats in the Sharjah Consultative Council, the body responsible for making proposals on all matters referred to it by the ruler. Sharjah Ruler and Supreme Council Member Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi's decree to hold an election for half of the seats on the Sharjah Consultative Council (SCC) was widely hailed by the local community. The historic announcement came in June and according to the decree, half of the 42-seat council will be elected by Emiratis and the rest will be appointed. Census data indicates that 78,457 Emiratis older than 21 are eligible to vote in Sharjah. According to figures, women made up 45 percent of the 24,952 Emiratis registered for the upcoming elections. Registration figures show that 60 percent of voters are younger than 40, while citizens older than 60 make up 10 percent of the voter registry. Forty percent of the voters are graduates. Sharjah city has six council seats and 96 candidates, which includes 25 women, are contesting for these seats. Nine seats are distributed between Al Dhaid, Khor Fakkan and Kalba. Two seats for Dibba Al Hisn, while Al Hamriya, Al Batayeh, Mleiha and Al Madam have been assigned one seat each. Thirty candidates are competing in Khor Fakkan and 23 in Kalba for three seats in each district. Twelve candidates have registered in Al Dhaid, Dibba Al Hisn has 10 candidates, Al Hamriya and Al Batayeh registered six candidates each, Mleiha has nine and Al Madam, eight. Dr. Khalid Al Midfa, head of media for the election committee, said: "We have been looking at making our first election a success. Each application was vetted to make sure that candidates complied with the regulations. But we had to reject 79 applications as they failed to provide a good-standing certificate." According to the electoral rule, candidates who want to run for office must be at least 25 years old with a good standing certificate and should be able to read and write. "The Supreme Committee of SCC Elections inspected each request separately to verify its conformity with all the conditions set by the law on the establishment of the SCC and the decree on the regulation of SCC polls", Dr. Al Midfa added. Officials say that the electoral system is similar to the one being used in the US elections and has many positive sides to it, in terms of ensuring voters and ensuring that the candidates meet the required criteria, elections monitoring and effective communication between the candidates and the voters during their campaigning period. Awareness workshops for candidates will be starting from Jan. 13. Dr. Al Midfa lauded everyone who answered the call of Sharjah Ruler Dr. Sheikh Sultan and submitted a nomination request for the SCC polls, which reflects the level of awareness enjoyed by the UAE community.
