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Dubai: Half the members of the Federal National Council (FNC) will be elected through direct elections, possibly in four years, a minister said on Wednesday.
Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, told a bankers lunch the current 40-member council will also be expanded and be given greater powers over time to improve its working.
The changes are part of a three-phase political reform programme, announced last December, that will begin this year, most likely in December, when half the FNC members are elected by an electoral college.
Members of the electoral college in each emirate are nominated by the rulers of their emirate. The other half of the FNC is to be appointed by the rulers.
Gargash said phase two will involve enlarging the FNC, including debating the formula for that increase, as well as "changes in some constitutional clauses that hinder the working of the FNC".
The changes will be made after debate and when there is consensus, he said. "My estimate is that phase two will take a minimum of four years," Gargash said at the lunch organised by Sulaiman H. Al Mazroui of Emirates Bank.
The third phase, that will follow, will involve "fully democratic and direct elections" for half the members of the FNC and its precise timing will depend on the success of the preceding phase, he said. "The entire programme will be gradual to ensure stability and harmony," he stressed.
The National Elections Committee held its third meeting on Tuesday night under the chairmanship of Gargash, WAM reported.
Gargash said the panel reviewed a report on preparations under way for the electoral process presented by the Secretary General of the FNC Affairs Ministry.
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