ABU DHABI // True to Bedouin tradition, FNC member Ahmed Al Ameri’s two homes are open to all.
Born and raised in Al Ain in the late 1950s and 1960s, Mr Al Ameri, 56, was brought up with a love for Sheikh Zayed, the founding President.
Mr Al Ameri’s grandfather, a companion of Sheikh Zayed, instilled similar values to those taught by the leader and raised his children to help all those around them.
Watching his father, known as one of the faces of the Awamer tribe in Al Ain, Mr Al Ameri followed in his footsteps.
“Why did I win the election in 2011? The people voted for me,” he says in a heavy Bedouin accent. “Did I make any promises? No.
“There is nothing we need that the leadership does not provide us with. I told people I would just pass their voices on.”
His welcoming reputation stretches across the whole emirate. Nationals and expatriates have been arriving at Mr Al Ameri’s doorstep – and his father’s before him – for aid or just to visit a kind man.
“If I was not as popular in Abu Dhabi and the Western Region as I am in Al Ain, I would not have won,” he says. “My popularity came with my family’s generosity. Thank God.”
Mr Al Ameri says he faced no difficulty in the 21 days of campaigning and “just sat at home”.
On election day, when the results were being read out on television, he watched intently from the comfort of his living room.
“I was thrilled that I would be serving the country,” he says. “That is the main reason why I entered.”
The senior member of the council started serving from an early age. After finishing primary school, Mr Al Ameri joined the Civil Defence school Salah Alishara and later began a career in the Armed Forces.
He retired in 1993 after 22 years in the military. Within the next couple of years he obtained a master’s degree in military science and set up his own business.
“My personality was shaped in the Armed Forces,” he says. “I learnt discipline, I learnt to work with others, and I learnt to be self reliant.”
“The country has given a lot to me, it is time to return the favour. This is why I am in the FNC.”
Mr Al Ameri is one of the quieter members and has only asked ministers a few questions over the course of the three years, possibly due to his belief that “there is nothing we need”.
“I cannot recall something the leadership has not done,” he says. “Our needs are limited. The leadership gives us all we need.”
Some of the issues on which Mr Al Ameri has focused in the council include national service, raising teachers’ salaries and increasing housing allowances.
“The salaries have been increased and the housing allowance, too, thank God,” he says.
Away from the council, he takes pride in his 700 camels and cattle on a farm he built in Al Ain.His love of camels came from his father, who owned hundreds in his lifetime.
Mr Al Ameri would love to be re-elected but says: “I would like my children to enter the FNC, or anyone able to represent this nation.”
osalem@thenational.ae
