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The Higher Committee for Sharjah Consultative Council (SCC) Elections on Monday, October 14, held a workshop to introduce the second phase of elections, which involves the registration of candidates, to executive staff of Sharjah’s various municipalities, namely Sharjah City, Al Dhaid, Khorfakkan, Kalba, Dibba Al Hisn, Al Madam, Al Bataeh, Maliha and Al Hamriya municipalities.

 

The workshop was attended by Yousef Hassan Al Ali, member of the Higher Committee for SCC Elections, as well as members of the Election Management Committee Abdul Aziz bin Khadem, Amna Salem Basleib, Ibrahim Al Ali, Suleiman Dawood, and Khalid Al Hammadi.

The workshop began with a welcome speech by Abdul Aziz bin Khadim, who asserted the Committee's keenness to update executive officers at the Emirate’s municipalities on the latest developments in the electoral process.

For her part, Amna Salem Basleib lauded the success of the first phase of the elections, pointing out that the number of citizens registered in the electoral bodies reached 37,472, a significant increase compared to the first round of elections held in 2015.

“There must be a number of conditions for the registration of candidates,” Basleib confirmed. “The candidate must be at least 25 years of age and must have civil capacity, good conduct and a sound reputation,” added the Election Management Committee member.

Concerning the documents required to complete the process of nomination, Basleib explained: “There are two scenarios. In the first scenario, the candidate goes personally to the constituency where they had registered their national ID. He/she must provide their original ID and a copy, their original passport and a copy, and their original family book and a copy, together with three recent photographs with a white background, a police clearance certificate addressed to the SCC Elections Higher Committee and a completed application form for nomination. In the second scenario, nomination is done through a representative of the candidate, who must present all the required documents, together with their own original ID and a general or special power of attorney certified by a notary and valid for no more than two years. "

A team representing the nominee shall prepare all the required documents along with the original agent ID card and a valid original power of attorney attested by a notary public or lawyer provided that it does not exceed more than two years.

In the event of winning the election, the candidate must resign from his employment, if any. Also, it is not permissible for a candidate to hold the membership of both the Sharjah Consultative Council and the Federal National Council or the Executive Council and Municipal Councils or Suburban and Village Councils or any other job in the service of Government of Sharjah.

With regard to the appeal against the nomination of a candidate, the issue will be examined on October 28 and 29. Each member of the electoral college has the right to challenge the candidacy of any of the candidates provided that the appeal is based on acceptable grounds. Appeals can be submitted to the District Committee on October 28 - 29, to be submitted to the Appeals Committee. The complainant has to deposit an amount of Dh3000 as security with the Higher Committee.

Ibrahim Al Ali, Member of the Election Management Committee, stressed that Tasheel (smart receipt system) will be available on smart devices for registering electoral candidates and to pay the prescribed fees easily with credit and debit cards as well as Emirates ID card.

Al Ali pointed out that the ID account can be opened and recharged on the Tasheel website, Sharjah Islamic Bank through all its banking channels, Al Ansari Exchange, Ridha Al Ansari Exchange, Tash'eel Al Saada Centre for Business Services, Tas'heel Center for Business Services and at collection centres in most local government agencies.

The official pointed out that there are ten banks through which the identity card can be submitted directly through their bank account without paying any additional fees and through Tasheel.  These include Standard Chartered Bank, Emirates NBD, and HSBC Middle East, Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Citibank, Union National Bank, Arab Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

At the end of the workshop, staff were given practical training on the mechanism of registering candidates and the collection system.

It is worth noting that these are the second direct elections being held for the SCC.  The Sharjah Council had been established through Emiri Decree No. 3 in 1999 by His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, in order to empower citizens and involve them in the development and governance of the Emirate, strengthening government institutions and services for the greater good of the people.