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Diana T Fritz  08/27/2006 05:10:15 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Search Results

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C O N F I D E N T I A L        ABU DHABI 04919

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    INFO:   PAO RSO AMB DCM MEPI P/M ECON DAO USLO

DISSEMINATION: POL
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:MJSISON
DRAFTED: POL:JFMAYBURY
CLEARED: DCM:MRQUINN

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INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0106
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0682
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0958
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 5611
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004919 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI, AND NEA/PPD 
STATE ALSO FOR PA, R, IIP, AND DRL 
LONDON FOR ELIZABETH MCKUNE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2010 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREL PTER AE
SUBJECT: UAE: LIMITED POLLS A PRELUDE TO DIRECT ELECTIONS 
 
REF: ABU DHABI 4905 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The UAE's Supreme Ruling Council on December 
3 endorsed President Sheikh Khalifa's reform initiative that 
includes a plan for indirect elections of half of the Federal 
National Council (FNC), with the other half being appointed. 
President Khalifa also announced that the decision to elect 
half the FNC membership is just a first step, and that direct 
elections would follow.  He specifically mentioned the 
participation of women.  The Supreme Ruling Council's other 
significant decision was to set up a National Security 
Council that will evaluate and respond to threats to the UAE. 
 End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) President Khalifa has elaborated on his reform plan 
first unveiled December 1.  He announced the following day 
that the decision to elect half of the FNC's membership by 
local councils in each emirate while appointing the second 
half is just the first step in what would be a broader reform 
policy.  He said each emirate ruler in the seven emirates 
will appoint a local council that will be at least 100 times 
larger than its number of FNC seats.  Thus, Abu Dhabi, with 8 
FNC seats, will have a local council with at least 800 
members.  The local council of "super-electors" -- including 
dignitaries, tribal chiefs and other influential figures in 
society -- will then elect from either within or outside 
their ranks half of the FNC.  The Rulers of each emirate will 
appoint the other half.  Currently, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have 
8 seats each, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah six, and Ajman, 
Fujairah, and Umm Al Qaiwain four.  (Note: The UAEG had 
announced December 1 that there would be a total of 2,000 
members of local councils.  Based on President Khalifa's 
amplification, that number would be 4,000.  End note.)  In 
the past, the Constitution left it up to the individual 
emirates to select their respective FNC members. 
 
¶3. (U) President Khalifa also announced that he would submit 
a proposal to the FNC during its next session recommending 
amendments to the UAE constitution.  These amendments would 
give greater power to the FNC, increase the FNC's membership 
to match with the population increase, and lengthen 
legislative terms.  Khalifa specifically said that the 
amendments were intended to prepare for direct elections.  He 
also said that he was looking forward to more reforms on 
various levels of power.  "The decision to introduce these 
reforms stems from the firm conviction of the UAE leadership 
on the importance of achieving wider and more effective 
participation of the citizens, men and women, in the building 
and development of the country," he said.  (Note: The 
president had not specifically mentioned direct elections or 
the participation of women in his December 1 announcement. 
End note.)  The Supreme Ruling Council endorsed President 
Khalifa's reform plan on December 3 and directed the 
concerned authorities to immediately begin its implementation. 
 
¶4. (U) The FNC is the UAE's primary consultative body and all 
federal draft laws and decrees must go through it before they 
are officially adopted by the Supreme Ruling Council.  (Draft 
legislation is prepared by the relevant UAEG ministry.) 
While the FNC does not have the power to reject legislation, 
it can send it back to the cabinet for amendment.  The FNC 
also has the authority to question any government minister. 
Currently, the 40 FNC members serve two-year terms.  The 
timetable for the elections is not yet known, although UAE 
officials quoted in the press have indicated that the process 
of selecting local councils would start early next year.  The 
federal Cabinet will prepare a bill and send it to the FNC, 
which upon approval will send it back to the Cabinet.  The 
Cabinet then forwards the bill to the president, who signs it 
after ratification by the Supreme Ruling Council. 
 
¶5. (C) For the first time since President Khalifa's December 
1 announcement concerning the FNC membership selection 
process, a few UAE political figures and academics have 
expressed their reservations about the new reform plan. 
Commenting on the decision to broaden political 
participation, human rights activist/lawyer Mohammed Al Rukn 
told us that as long as the FNC is not given more powers and 
FNC members are not elected directly by the citizens, the 
"so-called new process ... is a PR gesture."  Al Rukn also 
told "Gulf News" that voting rights should be granted to all 
citizens and a "strong" legislative authority established. 
Academic Mohammed bin Huwaidin told "Gulf News" that the 
local councils experience "falls short of our aspirations for 
direct elections."  Habiba Al Marashi, an environmental 
activist, was quoted by "Al Bayan" as saying that she hoped 
the new council "will give UAE women their deserved rights so 
that they can keep up with the developments regionally and 
internationally."  Ali Jassem, who has served in the FNC as a 
representative from Umm Al Qaiwain Emirate for the past 12 
years, told Ambassador December 4 that he intends to stand 
for office again.  Assuming he is selected, he said he plans 
to stand up in the council chambers and ask some provocative 
questions about the number of foreigners in the UAE, the 
reason why there are two foreign ministers (a Minister of 
Foreign Affairs and a Minister of State for Foreign Affairs), 
and whether the president or someone else is running the 
country. 
 
A New National Security Council 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Also on December 3, the Supreme Ruling Council agreed 
to establish a National Security Council.  According to 
statements from the UAE official news agency, the UAEG 
studied how other countries addressed their national security 
in order to find the best methods for the protection of the 
UAE's security.  "This step will boost the drive toward 
institutionalization by bringing together all the concerned 
bodies under one central agency that can handle current and 
future challenges effectively," Interior Minister Sheikh Saif 
bin Zayed said.  The main function of the council would be to 
"safeguard the UAE's accomplishments and preserve its 
security and stability," he added.  There were no details 
about who would be named the new national security czar. 
 
Democracy Developments on Other Fronts 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) As the headlines heralded the UAE's "march towards 
full democratic participation" ("Gulf News" Dec. 3) and "UAE 
is at the threshold of a new era" (&Gulf News" Dec. 2), Abu 
Dhabi residents gazed up at new billboards of candidates 
contesting the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 
first-ever board elections, which were scheduled for December 
¶5.  Approximately 50,000 members of the chamber were to elect 
15 members in a direct ballot, the first-ever elections to 
the chamber board. 
 
¶8. (U) On December 5, the "Gulf News" reported an interview 
with a senior Education Ministry official who said that, 
starting next year, democracy would be part of the elementary 
school curriculum.  Once children are in the sixth grade, 
they will receive more practical training by forming a model 
parliament where they will "learn the skills of debate and 
accepting others' opinions," said Obaid Al Muhairi, director 
of education and curriculum development center at the 
Ministry of Education. 
 
Comment: 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) Khalifa's public statement that direct elections are 
where the UAE is headed is a positive development.  While the 
announced reforms are not equivalent to a one-person, one 
vote election system, it is an important first step in 
introducing Emirati nationals to the electoral process in 
anticipation of genuine democratic reforms.  These gradual 
developments are ushering in a new openness, such as the 
questions FNC veteran Ali Jassem said he would raise if 
selected to the FNC )- questions mostly unheard of before 
President Sheikh Zayed's death. 
SISON