United Arab Emirates: Legislative Election, 3 October 2015

At stake in this election:

• 20 seats in the United Arab Emirates

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President KHALIFA bin Zayid Al-Nuhayyan (since 3 November 2004)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Vice President MUHAMMAD BIN RASHID Al-Maktum (since 5 January 2006)
• Assembly: United Arab Emirates has a uncimaral Majlis al-Ittihad al-Watani (Federal National Council) consisting of 40 seats.

Description of electoral system:

•  In the Federal National Council, 20 members are appointed by the rulers of the 7 constituent states and 20 are indirectly elected by an electoral college whose members are selected by each emirate ruler proportional to its Federal National Council membership. Members serve 4-year terms. 

Last Election:

• Elections for the Federal National Council were last held on 24 September 2011. There are no political parties in UAE, so all candidates ran as independents. 303 candidates contested the election, and the final composition of the Council was 31 men and 9 women. For a list of those elected to the Federal National Council, see here.

Main candidates in the election:

• The United Arab Emirates does not have political parties. All candidates for the Federal National Council run as independents.

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 5,779,760 (July 2015 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 224,279 (2015)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,817,061 (July 2015 est.)

·         Is United Arab Emirates a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has United Arab Emirates ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (6 October 2004)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 9 (22.50%)

·         Human Development Index Position: 41 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is United Arab Emirates a signatory to CRPD: Yes (8 February 2008)

·         Has United Arab Emirates ratified CRPD: Yes (19 March 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 866,964