ABU DHABI // Two years into its four-year term, the Federal National Council has to do more to make an impression, experts and the public have said.
Emiratis following the work of the council – now halfway through its second partly elected term – say they expected more and hope FNC members can achieve more in the next two years.
“In the two years there have been a few pluses, some things the FNC has done, and it will be wrong to dismiss it and totally neglect that, that’s the nice side of it,” said Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of political science at UAE University.
“But we all expected the FNC to do much more. This is, after all, the voice of the people in the UAE, and the voice of the people should represent the people.”
In its two years, the 40-member council has gradually held longer sessions and members became noticeably more vocal the longer they spent in the FNC chambers. With time, they have summoned a steadily increasing number of ministers for questioning.
Last year members were pushing for further Emiratisation and demanding larger pensions and early retirement for women.
Many of their requests are still awaiting results but members have vowed to follow up with ministers until requests are dealt with.
The state of government hospitals, particularly those in the Northern Emirates, was also scrutinised, leading to the Health Minister, Dr Abdul Rahman Al Owais, promising members that conditions would improve.
Since, drastic developmental changes in health care have taken place.
While those who regularly attend FNC meetings are aware of these achievements, other people are not, with blame placed on insufficient media coverage.
Some, including Gaith A Thery, of Dubai, said they lost interest after those they backed during elections failed to win.
Others said they were unaware of the limited powers the council had and expected greater change.
In part, this was caused by misleading promises given by election candidates.
Despite warnings from the National Election Committee, candidates still issued promises they could not deliver once in the council.
K D, an Emirati mother in Al Ain, voted for one winning candidate because he promised her and many others a job.
“He took our CVs,” she said. “Then, after he won, he gave us a certificate for electing him and we have not heard from him since.”
UAE University’s Dr Abdulla blamed council members’ limited powers.
“Maybe due to so many factors – that members are new, their limited power – still it is not the council the UAE deserves. The UAE deserves a better FNC,” he said.
Although he admitted that the council was able to debate a large number of laws and important issues, as well as question ministers, he said they did not live up to people’s expectations.
Myriam Al Dhaheri, a tourism and cultural communication media student at Zayed University, said there was one good thing about the council – that Abu Dhabi’s Noura Al Kaabi was appointed.
“This is a great thing because a lot of Emiratis look up to her and admire her in the media field,” she said.
Ms Al Dhaheri said council members needed to connect more with university students as they were “the next leaders”.
“This is especially important as the younger generation are more aware with what is going on in the country,” she said.
However, Sultan Al Muazin, a former member for Fujairah, said he was happy with the council’s work.
“I attended some of the sessions, the work is good,” he said. “There is a lot more cooperation with the government in this council.”
He said he was also pleased to see infrastructure projects, particularly in the Northern Emirates, come to fruition.
During his time on the council, he said that was an important issue members lobbied for.
Mr Al Muazin added that live streaming online, which some FNC members have been pushing for, could keep Emiratis informed about the council’s work.
osalem@thenational.ae