ABU DHABI // The German embassy in the UAE is calling on its citizens to register in time for the federal elections this year.
The German ambassador to the UAE, Nikolai Von Schoepff, said that registration has to be completed before September 2 for the "Bundestag" legislative elections scheduled for September 22.
"The parliament is elected for four years and is made up of 598 members," said Mathias Von Polenz, the spokesman for the embassy.
"The Bundestag elects the new federal government, and the winning candidate of the elections will be the chancellor who forms the cabinet and is head of government."
According to electoral guidelines, citizens older than 18 and are legally eligible to vote have to register in one of the 299 constituencies.
"If they are domiciled in Germany, they are registered automatically in their local community," he said.
"However, if they are not, they have to register via post or can deliver their application to the embassy or consulate in Dubai and it will be sent via diplomatic post."
Registration can be done online through logging on to the embassy's website, www.abu-dhabi.diplo.de or www.dubai.diplo.de.
The embassy in Abu Dhabi estimates that there are approximately 12,000 German citizens living in the UAE.
"There are about 3,000 Germans in Abu Dhabi and between eight and nine thousand in Dubai and the Northern Emirates," Mr von Polenz said.
An estimated 61.8million of 82m Germans will be eligible to vote.
[ amustafa@thenational.ae ]
