News
Thursday, March 10, 2011
UAE citizens demand right to elect parliament
DUBAI: Emirati intellectuals and activists, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world, petitioned the president Wednesday to introduce direct elections and vest parliament with legislative power.
In an online petition they cite ‘rapid regional and international developments that necessitate improving national participation,’ a reference to anti-government protests that have redrawn Arab politics in recent weeks.
They call for the direct election of all members of the Federal National Council (FNC) and constitutional amendments to invest the toothless advisory body with full legislative and regulatory powers.
The petition was signed by 133 Emirati nationals including academics, journalists and rights activists.
“Alluding to changes in the region is not meant as a threat. But there is an aspiration to widen the margin of freedoms, as we have seen in some Arab countries,” said United Arab Emirates University sociology professor Ibtisam al-Ketbi, one of the signatories.
The UAE, which groups seven emirates including Abu Dhabi and Dubai, had indirect elections in 2006 for the first time. The government described the polls as the start of a process that would eventually see all Emiratis electing half the members of an expanded FNC with greater powers.
The UAE is expected to have new elections later this year, but the only reform announced so far is an increase in the number of the people named to the electoral colleges. Members of electoral colleges appointed by the emirates’ rulers are entitled to elect half the members of the 40-strong council. The remainder are named by the rulers themselves.
The signatories of the online petition are not questioning the legitimacy of the UAE regime, but they want to have a greater say in government, Ketbi told.
They lamented that reforms over 39 years, since the federation was created, had not followed the constitution which envisages a ‘process towards a comprehensive democratic parliamentary system.’ “Every person wants to be part of the decision-making process. This is a just demand,” Ketbi said. “The world is moving forward... The FNC should reflect people’s aspirations.”
The academic said empowering the legislative council was “more important than elections.” “Having a council with no authority is meaningless,” she said. Ketbi said Emirati nationals - only around 15 percent of the UAE population - were limited in their ability to pressure the government. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk