2012 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The National Election Committee (NEC), the independent federal body mandated with organising and supervising the electoral process in the UAE, commissioned our agency to develop and implement a communications programme for the second elections to the Federal National Council (FNC). We had provided public relations consultancy to NEC for the first-ever elections held in the UAE in 2006. Compared to the 2006 elections the second elections were expanded in scale and scope. The Arab Spring had brought regimes in the Middle East under intense public glare and popular expectations were running high. We identified key stakeholders in the elections and adopted an integrated communications approach to create awareness of the electoral process and its local, regional and global relevance. Key messages emphasised the elections as an integral part of the political participation programme set in motion by the UAE leadership in 2005, long before the Arab Spring. The seven-month communications campaign generated a high level of interest and attracted positive response from stakeholder groups. The entire electoral process, including voter registrations, nominations, campaign, voting and announcement of results, was completed smoothly despite the substantial increase in the number of voters and candidates (35,000 compared to 7,000 in 2006).

The Brief

The UAE leadership saw the FNC elections as an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to gradually expanding political participation, as against the sudden, and often violent, transitions taking place elsewhere in the region. NEC’s brief to our agency was to position the elections as a logical next step in the political participation programme of the UAE President and create public awareness on the need to empower FNC by participating in the elections.

Results

The NEC was pleased with the outcome of the second FNC elections and our support in effectively communicating the importance of the electoral process. There were 450 contestants for the 20 FNC seats. The overall voter turnout was less than 30 per cent but our agency had identified this as a possible challenge earlier given the high number of women and youth in the Electoral College. Our agency was able to develop translate and distribute 60 press releases, generating 1,185 media clippings in English and Arabic, including online, on the elections during April-September 2012. The total ad value generated was US$9.3 million. The Agency was also able to provide timely crisis management support after technical glitches in voting centres in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi delayed the announcement of the final results. We drafted media releases and advisories to ensure all stakeholders were kept informed of all the developments.

Execution

Weadopted a research strategy, identifying issues and developing unified messages for NEC spokespersons. This was followed by a multi-stakeholder approach, with NEC spokespersons addressing specialised groups, particularly women and youth, on the need to advance political participation and the FNC experience. NEC spokespersons toured universities to engage students. Our integrated media outreach - supported by op-eds, commentaries, interviews and NEC spokesperson lectures, contributed to a high level of awareness and to managing expectations among the public. As election day approached, we drafted and disseminated messages on behalf of the UAE President, Vice President & Prime Minister and Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, calling on all voters to exercise their right and help empower the FNC. On Election Day – 24th September - we operated a press office managing media registrations. A 25-strong Agency team coordinated all media relations across voting centres in all Emirates.

The Situation

The 40-member Federal National Council is the fourth “Union Authority” after the Supreme Council; the President and his Deputy; and the Council of Ministers. The FNC has a four-year term with half the members elected since 2006. In 2011, the minimum strength of the Electoral College was tripled, with no limit set on maximum strength. The Electoral College, comprising eligible voters, had 130,000 members - 46% women and 35% aged below 30. It was decided to use an electronic voting system, enabling one-day elections across 13 voting centres in all seven emirates – compared to a three-day process in 2006.

The Strategy

We first started by identifying key issues around the 2011 elections before developing the communications campaign. The client agreed to our recommendation that the NEC should focus on educating the Electoral College on the culture of elections, since the UAE did not have a heritage of electoral experience. Our strategy focused on three main areas – increasing political awareness, enhancing the culture of political participation, and reaffirming that gradual approach is the ideal route to safeguarding the UAE’s achievements while advancing political participation.