The National Election Committee (NEC) here on Saturday announced the preliminary list of 469 candidates for the Federal National Council (FNC) elections scheduled for the September 24, 2011. 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 Committee receives applications and forwards them to the Election Management Committee, which in turn reviews the applications. Those applications that do not fulfill the official candidate requirements are turned down while only those that meet all requirements are accepted. 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-Qeiwien 19 and Fujairah, 21. 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, nine in Ras Al Khaimah, five in Ajman, four in Umm Al Qeiwien and three in Fujairah. "The announcement of the preliminary list of candidates marks a significant step along the road towards FNC elections 2011. With this step, the members of the electoral colleges assume a key role in terms of participation or choosing their representatives for the Council," said Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for FNC and Chairman of the NEC. "The increase in the number of candidates in this year's elections shows the growing political awareness among the electoral college members. 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," said Dr. Gargash. NEC was established in February 2011 by a Decision of the UAE Supreme Council to exercise all powers necessary to oversee the election of representatives from the seven emirates in the country to the Federal FNC. The NEC's terms of reference include the general framework of the electoral process and overall supervision of the conduct of the elections. The NEC will also support outreach and education efforts relating to the elections, issue guidelines on the electoral process and identify polling stations in each emirate. In addition, the NEC is authorized to adopt procedures to form the legal framework for elections, as well as to decide on the list of voters and day of the election. The NEC is chaired by the Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs. (end) hb KUNA 201826 Aug 11NNNN