The Higher Committee for the Sharjah Consultative Council (SCC) Elections spelt out the agenda and other essential details of the upcoming historic direct elections to the advisory body at a press conference today (Sunday, August 25) at the Sharjah City Municipality headquarters.
The press conference was addressed by Dr Mansour bin Nassar, Chairman of the Higher Committee for the SCC Elections, HE Ahmed Saeed Al Jarwan, Member of the Higher Committee for SCC Elections and Secretary General of the Sharjah Consultative Council and other dignitaries.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mansour bin Nassar thanked His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, for his generous support and monitoring of the upcoming elections for the 10th term of Sharjah Consultative Council, in order to strengthen the process of “Shura” or consultation in the administration and development process in the Emirate of Sharjah.
Discussing the upcoming SCC elections, Dr Bin Nassar emphasised that the Higher Committee for the SCC Elections is sparing no effort to strengthen the parliamentary process in the Emirate and involve the citizens in the decision-making process as per the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.
He underscored the importance of people’s participation in this celebration of electoral participation, which offers the Emirate an opportunity to bring in change by listening to the citizen. Stressing the importance of public participation in the parliamentary process and the power of people’s votes to shape change, he said that around half of the members of the Council who are being directly elected would act as the voice of the public and the link between the people and decision makers.
The Sharjah advisory body registered remarkable success and has a number of achievements to its credit in its nascent experience of participative parliamentary process, as envisioned by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah in order to involve the citizenry in the development journey and decision-making process of the Emirate, he added.
HE Ahmed Saeed Al Jarwan, Member of the Supreme Committee and Secretary General of the SCC, lauded the performance of the Council saying it has emerged as a strong bridge between the citizen and government administration in the Emirate. He thanked HE Khawla Al Mulla, Chairperson of the SCC, and other members of the Council for their relentless efforts to achieve the vision of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah to view the citizen as the top priority by addressing his/her needs.
Al Jarwan pointed out that buoyed by the heartening success of the first direct elections to the Sharjah Council, the Higher Committee is keen to further enhance the electoral experience of the Emirate of Sharjah. The Higher Committee is keen to make the most of the concerted efforts being made by members of various committees and benefit from their expertise to support the electoral process and political empowerment in the Emirate, he added.
Al Jarwan said that the Higher Committee is sparing no effort to ensure the second SCC elections are free, fair and transparent. He also made a presentation on the occasion explaining the method of running for the SCC elections by downloading the SCC Elections application at both Apple and Google Play stores.
On this occasion, a video documentary on the first SCC elections was also presented, along with an explanatory video on the new electronic services for the elections.
The participation rate in the first SCC elections touched 67% with the number of electoral college members crossing 24,952 voters. Around 16,696 voters voted to elect 21 winners from amongst 195 candidates.
