With its decision to hold elections for half the seats in the country’s 40 seat Federal National Council, the UAE has declared its intention to move with the spirit of the times and the mood of its people. It is the only state in the region without an elected body at any level of government. Aisha Sultan of Dubai Television put it best when she explained, “The UAE is part of an international system where democracy has become the most important issue. We do not live on an isolated island and cannot put ourselves on the margin of the world. There is a train that is moving forward and we cannot miss it.”
While the world knows that assemblies and elections are new to the region, it is not known that participation in decision-making is certainly not. Consultation — Shoura in Arabic — has always been an intrinsic part of the Arab tradition of governance which has generally sought to base itself on the best informed and wisest views available. Therefore, the reforms that are taking place, not just in the UAE but here in the Kingdom and in Kuwait and Bahrain, actually give new form to an old political spirit. That is why the attempts by some quarters to read these developments as a case of another country giving into pressure from Washington are so demonstrably absurd.
President Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan made it clear yesterday when he announced the move that the purpose of the change was to boost the role of the largely consultative FNC. The new members will be elected from among their peers by the 2,000 members of local councils, all of them tribal, community or business leaders. This will ensure not only that they will have a good grounding in the business of government and administration, but will also be able to represent directly the views of their fellow councilors.
It is also expected that the powers of the FNC will be changed. It currently has the right to reject or suggest amendments to laws proposed by the council of ministers. It is perhaps significant that the president said that the FNC was to be “activated”. Clearly the feeling is that the government will benefit from a consultative assembly, 20 of whose members are chosen by an albeit limited franchise rather than a wholly appointed body.
It is easy for people to be cynical about these limited moves toward democracy and the gentle pace of future change which they suggest. For some radical reformists they will clearly be disappointing. But they do nevertheless represent real change. And now is clearly the time to advance a process that needs time and care. The region is in the grip of an economic boom and many people are probably too busy making money to think about political reforms. Yet the time when there is no pressure for these is surely the best time to make them. With leisure to correct and adjust new political structures, there is a better chance of getting them right. History has shown that political reforms that have been rushed or imposed almost inevitably fail, whereas those which are allowed to evolve flourish and endure.
