UAE Law & Government
Government & Politics
Politics of the United Arab Emirates takes place in a framework of a federal presidential elected monarchy, a federation of seven absolute monarchies, the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al-Qaiwain. The ruler of Abu Dhabi is President of the United Arab Emirates, the head of state, and the ruler of Dubai is the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, the head of government.
Administratively, the UAE is a federation of seven emirates, each with its own ruler. The pace at which local government in each emirate evolves from traditional to modern is set primarily by the ruler. Under the provisional constitution of 1971, each emirate reserves considerable powers, including control over mineral rights (notably oil) and revenues. In this milieu, federal powers have developed slowly. The constitution established the positions of president (chief of state) and vice president, each serving 5-year terms; a Council of Ministers (cabinet), led by a prime minister (head of government); a supreme council of rulers; and a 40-member National Assembly, a consultative body whose members are appointed by the emirate rulers. Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan was president of the UAE from its foundation until his death on 2 November 2004. His eldest son, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, is the current president. The federation has a Federal Supreme Council. The Supreme Council consists of the individual rulers of the seven emirates. The President and Vice-President are elected by the Supreme Council every five years. Although unofficial, the Presidency is de facto hereditary to the Al-Nahyan clan of Abu Dhabi and the Premiership is hereditary to the Al-Maktoom clan of Dubai. The Supreme Council also elects the Council of Ministers, while an appointed 40-member Federal National Council, drawn from all the emirates, reviews proposed laws.
The relative political and financial influence of each emirate is reflected in the allocation of positions in the federal government. The ruler of Abu Dhabi, whose emirate is the UAE's major oil producer, is president of the UAE. The ruler of Dubai, which is the UAE's commercial center and a significant oil producer, is vice president and prime minister.
Since achieving independence in 1971, the UAE has worked to strengthen its federal institutions. Nonetheless, each emirate still retains substantial autonomy, and progress toward greater federal integration has slowed in recent years. A basic concept in the UAE Government's development as a federal system is that a significant percentage of each emirate's revenues should be devoted to the UAE central budget.
Although this is what the modernisation theory suggests as a consequence after years of development, the UAE seems to be still far beyond the emergence of any meaningful political life. In fact, The rulers hold power on the basis of their dynastic position and their legitimacy in a system of tribal consensus. Rapid modernization, enormous strides in education, and the influx of a large foreign population have changed the face of the society but have not fundamentally altered this traditional political system. So, how can we explain the almost non-existence of civil society participation in the political life? One main attempt to do so is through the famous 'rentier state' theory. UAE is one of those states that can be described as 'rentier', where by definition is one of those "countries that receive on a regular basis substantial amounts of external economic rent."
Such states including United Arab Emirates generate most of their income from foreign actors, "accrue directly to the state, and only a small fraction of the population is engaged in the generation of this rent, while the rest nevertheless might benefit from the distribution and utilization of it".
Given the high revenue derived from oil, UAE government like many in the Persian Gulf region collect very low taxes, if any at all. As a result, these governments including the UAE's, face very low levels of accountability and representation demands from their people, and even when they exist the rentier governments are highly resistible by nature to pressures from below and have shown their ability to contain/ignore them. This makes sense of the famous phrase "no representation without taxation" (from the concept of “No taxation without representation”) and reflects the political reality in these countries.
The huge government spending, furthermore, in every dimension of the economy have made the people absolutely satisfied and managed to divert their attention to other areas than politics, given their free access to education and health services, as well as the subsidised primary commodities, which all led to the overall economic wellbeing. "Oil wealth, in sum, makes possible a fairly high standard of living for the people, but enables the government to keep the public politically demobilized, either by fiscal generosity or by repression, and does not bring about the social changes that usually lead to political mobilization in favor of democracy. As quantitative studies demonstrate, oil wealth has indeed a strong negative impact on the level of democracy".
This is the primary political economy approach that explains the lack of democracy in this country. But this is not to say at all that the political life has been frozen in the UAE. The Emirates are witnessing some political changes driven by the wider American influences, some would argue, aimed at the whole region following the US “Greater Middle East Initiative”.
One important step towards democratic government: On December 1, 2005, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan announced that half of the Federal National Council would be elected while the other half appointed by the rulers. This was assumed to be the first of many steps towards a democratic government.
Foreign Relations
The UAE joined the United Nations and the Arab League and has established diplomatic relations with more than 60 countries, including the United States, Japan, Russia, India, the People's Republic of China, and most Western European countries. It has played a moderate role in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, the United Nations, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Substantial development assistance has increased the UAE's stature among recipient states. Most of this foreign aid (in excess of $15 billion) has been to Arab and Muslim countries.
Following Iraq's 1990 invasion and attempted annexation of Kuwait, the UAE has sought to rely on the GCC, the United States, and other Western allies for its security. The UAE believes that the Arab League needs to be restructured to become a viable institution and would like to increase strength and interoperability of the GCC defense forces.
The UAE is a member of the following international organizations: UN and several of its specialized agencies (ICAO, ILO, UPU, WHO, WIPO); World Bank, IMF, Arab League, Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), OPEC, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the Non-Aligned Movement.
International Disputes
Location and status of boundary with Saudi Arabia is not final, de facto boundary reflects 1974 agreement; no defined boundary with most of Oman, but Administrative Line in far north.
Claims two islands in the Persian Gulf that are part of Iran's territory: Lesser Tunb (called Tunb as Sughra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek in Persian by Iran) and Greater Tunb (called Tunb al Kubra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg in Persian by Iran).
Claims island in the Persian Gulf administered by Iran (called Abu Musa in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Abu Musa in Persian by Iran) - over which Iran has taken steps to exert unilateral control since 1992, including access restrictions and a military build-up on the island.
