Systems of Government


Introduction & Background


A System of Participation

The political system of the United Arab Emirates is a unique combination of the traditional and the modern, offering an interesting study of the way in which it is possible for a country to move forward with the mechanics of a modern administrative structure while, at the same time, ensuring that the best of the traditions of the past are maintained, adapted and preserved.

Background

The state was created in 1971, a federation between seven emirates, formerly known as the Trucial States, which, for the previous one hundred and fifty years, had been in treaty relations with the British.

The name itself was derived from a Perpetual Treaty of Maritime Truce, signed by the Rulers and the British in the 1850s, which was designed to guarantee peace at sea, particularly during the pearling season.

Apart from a similar series of agreements with neighbouring Gulf states, the agreements between the Emirates and the British were unique, with no immediate parallels anywhere else in the world.

Evolving during the course of the nineteenth century, the agreements involved the rulers of the Emirates permitting Britain to undertake responsibility for their foreign affairs and external defence while, in turn, the British undertook not to intervene in the internal affairs of the Emirates or in land-based relations between them.

Trucial States

During the period of British direct involvement in the region, and protected from external threat, the traditional structures of governance that were in place at the beginning of the nineteenth century were gradually modified according to the changing conditions, and in accordance with the wishes of the rulers and people.

To some extent, indeed, the relationship of Britain with the Emirates, apart from matters of foreign affairs and defence, can best be described as one of benign neglect. Until the mid-1950s, virtually no attention was paid by the British to the economic development of the country, and even then, it was the rulers themselves who took the initiative in creating a modern infrastructure.

Following the British announcement, in early 1968, that they would be terminating their agreements with the Trucial States by the end of 1971, the rulers of the seven emirates, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras al Khaimah, Fujairah, Umm al Qaiwain and Ajman, met to discuss their future.

Recognising that more united than divided them, they agreed to establish a federal state, in order to venture together upon a new and challenging future.

Federal Constitution

At the time, the country's population was a mere 180,000, in an area of 83,600 sq.km. There were, however, substantial differences between the individual emirates, in terms of size, population, economic resources and degree of development.

The larger emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai were already oil exporters, and the process of economic development was well under way. At the other end of the scale, Ajman, the smallest emirate, had an area of only 260 square kilometres, whilst the east coast emirate of Fujairah, with only a few tens of thousands of inhabitants, was not even connected by a proper road through the mountains to the rest of the country.

In a spirit of consensus and collaboration, the rulers agreed that each of them would be a member of a Supreme Council of Rulers, which became the top policy-making body in the new state. They agreed also that they would elect a president and a vice-president from amongst their number, to serve for a five year term of office. The ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, was elected as the first President, a post to which he has been re-elected at successive five yearly intervals, while the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum, was elected as first Vice President, a post he continued to hold until his death in 1990, at which point his eldest son and heir, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum, was elected to succeed him.

Each of the components of the federation, officially entitled Dawlat al Imarat al Arabiyya al Muttahida (States of the United Arab Emirates), had its own existing institutions of government, and to provide for the effective governing of the new state, the Rulers agreed to draw up a federal constitution which specified those powers which were to be allocated to the federal institutions, all others remaining the prerogative of the individual emirates.

Assigned to the federal authorities, under Articles 120 and 121 of the Constitution, were the areas of responsibility for foreign affairs, security and defence, nationality and immigration issues, education, public health, currency, postal, telephone and other communications services, air traffic control and licensing of aircraft and a number of other topics specifically prescribed, including labour relations, banking, delimitation of territorial waters and extradition of criminals.

In parallel, the Constitution also stated in Article 116 that: 'the Emirates shall exercise all powers not assigned to the Federation by this Constitution'. This was reaffirmed in Article 122, which stated that 'the Emirates shall have jurisdiction in all matters not assigned to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federation, in accordance with the provision of the preceding two Articles'.

June 18th, 1996 saw the endorsement of a permanent constitution by the Federal National Council (FNC) and the Federal Supreme Council (FSC). The FNC unanimously ratified a draft amendment to what used to be the interim constitution, eliminating the word "interim" and naming Abu Dhabi the Federal Capital.

The Constitution was issued into law by His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the President. It was publshed in the official newspaper of the country on the eve of the UAE's festivities on December 2nd, 1996, which mark the passage of 25 fascinating years in which the UAE has been rising and has remained a strong united federal state.

That year of the UAE’s Silver Jubilee celebrations also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Accession of HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

The UAE will be adopting a new national anthem, the lyrics and music of which will be decided through a competition ot herald a new era in the country's rally.

Organs of Government


Besides the Supreme Council of Rulers, the system of government of the Federation also includes a Cabinet, or Council of Ministers, a parliamentary body, the Federal National Council, and an independent judiciary, at the peak of which is the Federal Supreme Court.

The Cabinet, described in the Constitution as 'the executive authority' for the Federation, includes the usual complement of ministerial portfolios, and is headed by a Prime Minister, chosen by the President in consultation with his colleagues on the Supreme Council.

The Prime Minister, currently the Vice President, although this has not always been the case, then selects the Ministers, who may be drawn from any of the federations' component emirates, although, naturally, the more populous emirates have generally provided more members of each Cabinet.

The Federal National Council has forty members drawn from the emirates on the basis of their population, with eight for each of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, six each for Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah, and four each for Fujairah, Umm al Qaiwain and Ajman.

Presided over by a Speaker, or either of two Deputy Speakers elected from amongst their number, the FNC is responsible under the Constitution for examining, and, if it wishes, amending, all proposed federal legislation, and is also empowered to summon and to question any Federal Minister regarding Ministry performance.

The federal judiciary, guaranteed its independence under the Constitution, includes the Federal Supreme Court and Courts of First Instance.

Local Government


Parallel to, and, on occasion, interlocking with, the federal institutions, each of the seven emirates also has its own local Government. Although all have expanded significantly as a result of the country's growth in the last quarter of a century, these differ in size and complexity from emirate to emirate, depending on a variety of factors such as population, area, and degree of development.

Thus the largest and most populous emirate, Abu Dhabi, has its own central governing organ, the Executive Council, chaired by the Crown Prince, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, and is divided into two regions, the Eastern and Western, both headed by an official with the title of Ruler's Representative. There is also a Ruler's Representative on the important oil terminal island of Das.

The main cities, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, the latter also the capital of the Eastern Region, are administered by Municipalities, each of which has a nominated Municipal Council, while the national Consultative Council, chaired by a Speaker, and with sixty members drawn from among the emirate's main tribes and families, undertakes a role similar to that of the FNC on a country-wide level, questioning officials and examining and endorsing local legislation. It is also a source of vocal suggestion for the introduction or revision of federal legislation.

Administration in the emirate is implemented by a number of local departments, covering topics such as public works, water and electricity, finance, customs, and management. Some have a responsibility for the whole of the emirate, although in certain spheres, such as water and electricity, there are also departments covering only the Eastern Region.

A similar pattern of municipalities and departments can be found in each of the other emirates, while Sharjah, with its three enclaves on the country's east coast, has also adopted the practice of devolving some authority on a local basis, with branches in both Kalba and Khor Fakkan of the Sharjah Emiri Diwan (Court), headed by deputy chairmen.

In smaller or remoter settlements, the ruler and government of each emirate may choose a local representative, an emir or wali, to act as a conduit through which the concerns of inhabitants may be directed to government. In most cases, these are the leading local tribal figures, whose influence and authority derives both from their fellow tribesmen and from the confidence placed in them by the ruler, an example of the way in which local leaders within the traditional system have become involved with, and lend legitimacy to, the new structures of government.

Relationship between Federal and local governments


The powers of the various federal institutions and their relationship with the separate institutions in each emirate, laid down in the constitution, have evolved and changed since the establishment of the state.

Under the terms of the Constitution, rulers may, if they wish, relinquish certain areas of authority prescribed as being the responsibility of individual emirates to the federal government. One significant such decision being that to unify the armed forces in the mid-1970s.

The 1971 Constitution also permitted each emirate to retain or to take up membership in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, although none have done so; the only emirate to be a member in 1971, Abu Dhabi, having chosen to relinquish its memberships in favour of the federation.

Over the course of the nearly twenty-five years since the federation was established, the United Arab Emirates has grown dramatically as a result of a sustained development programme, which has not only seen the completion of a modern infrastructure that reaches into the remotest mountain villages, but has also seen population rise more than ten fold to an estimated 2.37 million at the end of 1995. With such a pace of growth, the organs of government, both federal and local, have also developed impressively, and their influence now affect almost all aspects of life, for both UAE citizens and expatriates.

As with other relatively young states, new institutions that were created for the first time, have derived their legitimacy and status from the extent of their activities and achievements, and from acknowledgement and appreciation of their role by the people.

The relationship between the new systems of government, federal and local, has itself evolved in a constructive manner. As the smaller emirates have benefited from development in terms of, for example, education, so they have been able to find the personnel to extend the variety of services provided by their own local governments, which had once been handled on their behalf by federal institutions, such as tourism.

At the same time, in other areas, such as the judiciary, there has been an evolving trend towards a further voluntary relinquishment of local authority to the federal institutions. These new systems of government have not, however, replaced the traditional forms, which co-exist and evolve alongside them.

Traditional government


Traditionally, the ruler of an emirate, the sheikh, was the leader of the most powerful, though not necessarily the most populous, tribe, while each individual tribe, and often its various sub-sections, also generally had a chief or sheikh.

Such rulers and chiefs maintained their authority only insofar as they were able to retain the loyalty and support of their people, in essence a form of direct democracy, though without the paraphernalia of western forms of suffrage. Part of that democracy was the unwritten but strong principle that the people should have free access to their sheikh, and that he should hold a frequent and open majlis, or council, in which his fellow tribesmen could voice their opinions.

Such a direct democracy, of course, may be ideally suited to small and relatively uncomplicated societies, but becomes steadily more difficult to maintain as populations grow, while the increasing sophistication of the elements of government, through the various federal ministries and local departments and municipalities, means that on a day to day basis, many of the inhabitants of the Emirates now find it more appropriate to deal directly with these institutions on most matters, rather than to seek to meet directly with their ruler or sheikh.

One fascinating aspect of life in the Emirates today, and one that is essential to an understanding of its political system, is the way in which the institution of the majlis has continued to maintain its relevance.

In larger emirates, not only the ruler, but also a number of other senior members of his family, continue to hold open majlises, in which participants may raise a wide range of topics, from a request for a piece of land, or for a scholarship for a son or daughter to go abroad, to more weighty subjects such as the impact of large-scale foreign immigration upon society or complaints about perceived flaws in the practices of various ministries and departments.

In smaller emirates, the majlis of the ruler himself, or of the crown-prince or deputy ruler, remain the main focus. In Fujairah, for example, the ruler holds an open majlis at least once a week, as well as daily during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which may be attended by both citizens and expatriates. To these majlises come traditionally-minded tribesmen who may have waited several months for the opportunity to discuss with their ruler directly, rather than choose to pursue their requests or complaints through a modern governmental structure.

In modern society, of course, as President Sheikh Zayed himself has commented, it is naturally easier for a ruler to go to meet his people than for them to come to meet him. Sheikh Zayed frequently travels within the UAE, providing opportunities for him to meet with citizens away from the formal surroundings of an office or palace. During his regular inspection tours of projects, he also takes pains to ensure that citizens living nearby are guaranteed easy access to him.

Over the years since the United Arab Emirates was formed, the attitude of its people towards the modern and the traditional forms of government have, naturally, evolved. The ministries, departments and municipalities are now well established, and deal with a broad range of activities. As their functions have expanded, so they have taken over responsibility for a number of tasks with which, traditionally, a ruler would have dealt on a personal basis.

Moreover, for the younger generation, who have grown up under the umbrella of such institutions, there is now a growing tendency to pay less attention to the old forms of governance, even though they may frequently attend majlises, particularly of the younger sheikhs. Among the older generation, however, traditional ways have retained their popularity, even if, on occasion, approaches may be made through the government machinery.

Just as the modern institutions have developed in response to public need and demand, however, so the traditional forms of tribal administration have adapted. With many relatively routine matters now being dealt with by the modern institutions, so the traditional ones, like the majlis, have been able to focus on more complex issues rather than on the routine matters with which they were once heavily involved.

In the majlises, for example, it is possible to hear detailed, and often heated, discussions between sheikhs and other citizens on questions such as the policy that should be adopted towards the evolution of the machinery of government, or the nature of relations with neighbouring countries.

On matters more directly affecting the individual, such as the topic of unemployment among young UAE graduates, debates often tend to begin in the majlises, where discussion can be fast and furious, before a consensus approach is evolved that is subsequently reflected in changes in government policy.

Through such means, the traditional methods of government in the United Arab Emirates have been able to retain both their relevance and vitality, and they continue to play an important, although often unpublicised, role in the evolution of the state today.

A Balanced Approach


In many relatively new countries, government leaders have chosen to adopt uncritically forms of political administration that have been developed in, and for, other countries with different social and economic conditions. As a corollary, they have neglected, and have often formally abolished, the traditional forms of government which once prevailed.

The result, as has become sadly clear over the course of the last twenty or thirty years, has been that often governments have become divorced from their people, with a consequent failure to obtain or to retain popular legitimacy.

In the United Arab Emirates, however, a different approach has been adopted: that of creating modern forms of administration, but, at the same time, of preserving traditional institutions, with the vitality and legitimacy they draw from history.

When the rulers of the emirates met twenty-five years ago to agree on the forms of government for their new federal state, they chose deliberately not simply to copy from others. They chose, instead, to work towards a society that would offer the best of modern administration, while at the same time retaining the traditional forms of government, that, with their inherent commitment to consensus, discussion and direct democracy, offered the best features of the past.

With the benefit of a quarter of century of hindsight, it is evident that they made the correct choice, for, despite the massive economic growth and the social dislocation caused by an explosion in the population, the State has enjoyed an enviable stability. During the course of the last few decades, moreover, there have been numerous attempts to create federal states, both in the Arab world and elsewhere, but the UAE is the only one in the Arab world to have stood the test of time.

Perhaps one reason for the success of the federal experiment in the United Arab Emirates has been the fact that its leaders and people have avoided the temptation to copy from elsewhere, or to adopt a rigid political ideology that owes its origins to other countries and other societies, preferring instead to hold fast to the essential principles on which local society has been governed for centuries.

Whatever the cause, however, the result has been the evolution of a society where modern and traditional forms of government are not only both relevant but are also both evolving harmoniously along side each other, in pursuit of the greater goal of a stable, prosperous, confident and democratic society.

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