The second phase of indirect elections to an advisory council was under way Monday in the United Arab Emirates, two days after a woman was voted into office in the country's first ever national polls.
Members of electoral colleges started voting to choose representatives to the Federal National Council (FNC) in the emirate of Dubai and in Ras al-Khaimah to the north.
In Dubai, 1,520 people named by the emirate's ruler were eligible to choose from a field of 77 candidates, including 15 women, to fill four seats on the council.
Ras al-Khaimah's electoral college totals 1,061 and will choose three representatives from among 80 candidates, including three women.
The three-stage elections to fill half the council's 40 seats started in Abu Dhabi and the smaller emirate of Fujairah Saturday.
Amal Abdullah al-Kubaissi, a British-educated architect, won a seat in Abu Dhabi. Voting will conclude in Ajman, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaiwain on Wednesday.
In a statement he made as he was on an inspection tour of the polling station in Dubai, Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for FNC Affairs, said balloting was well progressing. According to WAM, he was all praise of voters and candidates alike for what he touted as their fervent enthusiasm and their high turnout.
"Today's process will be a repeat of the success witnessed during the first phase in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah," Gargash anticipated.
On August 5, 2006, President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a decree defining method of electing representatives of the seven emirates to the Federal National Council (FNC).
Under the decree half of the FNC 40 members will be elected, while the other half will be appointed.
