Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the National Election Committee (NEC) on Sunday said the number of voters for the FNC elections increased gradually from 7000 in 2005 to 130,000 in 2011 to more than 224,000 voters in the upcoming polls in October.

"Through the gradual expansion of political participation, the country's leadership aims to establish a national experience that unites citizens rather than divide them," Gargash said at a seminar hosted by the FNC and the Emirates Writers Union at the Beach Rotana Hotel.

The gradual increase, he added, is in line with the political empowerment programme launched by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2005.

The minister further said that the figures confirmed the leaders' determination to promote political participation.

Gargash also noted that the first step in this direction was made by the Cabinet led by Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, when it created the Ministry of FNC Affairs and tasked it with implementing the programme.