Parliamentary election were held for the first time in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

in December 2006 to elect half of the 40 members of

Federal National Council The Federal National Council (FNC) ( ar, المجلس الوطني الإتحادي, ''al-Majlis al-Watani al-Ittihadi'') of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an advisory quasi-parliamentary body in the UAE. The FNC consists of 40 members. Twen ...

. Voting took place in Abu Dhabi and

Fujairah Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...

on 16 December, in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

and

Ras al-Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al A ...

on 18 December, and in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital ...

Ajman Ajman ( ar, عجمان, '; Gulf Arabic: عيمان ʿymān) is the capital of the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. It is the fifth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain. Located along the Persian Gulf, i ...

and

Umm al-Quwain Umm Al Quwain is the capital and largest city of the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates. The city is located on the peninsula of Khor Al Bidiyah, with the nearest major cities being Sharjah to the southwest and Ras Al Khaimah ...

on 20 December.

Electoral system

The 40 members of the Federal National Council consisted of 20 elected members and 20 members appointed by the rulers of each Emirate. The elections were held using electoral colleges, with only 6,689 of more than 300,000 citizens over 18 years were allowed to vote, of which 1,163 were women.Sole woman elected in UAE maiden polls
Middle East Online, 21 December 2006 The electoral college members were chosen by the rulers of the seven emirates.

Results

Only one woman was elected (

Amal Al Qubaisi Amal Al Qubaisi (born 18 October 1969) was the speaker of the United Arab Emirates Federal National Council (FNC) from 2015 to 2019. She was first female leader of a national assembly in the United Arab Emirates and the Arab world. Before holding ...

in Abu Dhabi) and eight were amongst the appointed members announced on 4 February 2007. Umm al-Qaiwain was the only emirate without female representation.

Aftermath

The newly-elected Federal National Council was opened on 12 February 2007 by President

Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar,  خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from ...

.The UAE today begins its 48th parliamentary year
Teller Report, 13 November 2019

References

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

Elections in the United Arab Emirates

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