NEC urges candidates to adhere to rules

Abu Dhabi, Sept 4, 2011 (WAM) - The National Elections Committee (NEC) has called on the candidates for the Federal National Council (FNC) elections 2011 to comply with the instructions and regulations of the campaign, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday, according to the timetable for the elections.
Tariq Hilal Lootah, Undersecretary of the Ministry of State for the Federal National Council Affairs, Member of the NEC, Chairman of the Elections Management Committee, said campaigning is one of the important tools used by the candidates to introduce themselves and their programs, ideas and aspirations and future plans before the electoral bodies, indicating that it is the right granted by the executive instructions to the candidate as long as he/she is committed to the specific instructions.
According to the instructions, the candidate must maintain during the campaign the values and principles of the community, and adhere to the rules and regulations and respect public order. The campaign should not include ideas that provoke religious, sectarian or tribal or ethnic intolerance. The candidates can display their election programmes in the media, local TV, radio, printing, in seminars and press conferences, according to the rules and guidelines set by the NEC.
The rules also stipulate that all the candidates should not exceed the ceiling of expenditure on advertisement and promotional campaigns the amount of Dh2 million. They have to disclose sources of funding for campaigns. The candidates are also banned to use the official government emblem or symbols in the meetings, ads, press releases and all types of writings and drawings used in the campaign. - Emirates News Agency, WAM