ABU DHABI // Known for his occasionally controversial opinions in the Federal National Council, Ahmed Al Amash said he is only looking out for his “sons and daughters” in the country.
He has previously been criticised for saying unmarried women were unhappy, and men should look into marrying multiple wives.
But despite the criticism, Mr Al Amash said he was looking at issues given to him by society and had to put his social responsibility to good use.
“I wanted to connect with people, I was always linking the citizens with members of the Government and those in important positions. I was raised to do just that. I have many personal initiatives. My presence with the people as a responsible personality in the community, in my opinion, is acceptance from the people,” he said.
“I was encouraged by many people in the community to use my vision and services, on the country’s level as a whole instead of just the local emirate. Owing to my social and national role, and after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed enabled the council to serve the citizens and encouraged us nationals to participate, from that point, I decided to nominate myself.”
He said a campaign was “ready-made” for him because of his social connections.
“My campaign was easy, thanks to my family’s support and my loved ones’ presence with me.”
He said he expected he would be elected, because his basic goal was to work with the community and the youth, mainly in strengthening social ties and patriotism.
“In the long run, my aim was to first and foremost serve the citizens. I want to achieve the Government’s visions from a social security and social closeness perspective. My plans were to protect the rights of the citizens and to look out for the community’s interest, through the topics, and my main focus is on the community’s wants and needs.”
He said his concentration is on employment, housing, health, education, culture and national dress.
“I entered the council when I was already a practitioner in collective and social work. The change was limited, but the responsibility increased. Instead of it being a personal responsibility it became compulsory.”
Mr Al Amash said he is in constant communication with the public.
“I have a personal majlis, open office hours and my phone is always ringing,” he said. “I am always busy. People mostly ask me for housing, marriage issues or anything related to the ministers and leaders.”
Citizens’ needs and requirements are a priority, but he said the public is not aware of the time needed for issues to be tackled and changes to be made.
“The urgency that some of the citizens have in expecting results in a certain issue, that affects the council. When the citizens say you are not heard by the Government, that reduces the role of the member. The role of a member in the council is to transfer certain realities or issues of the nationals. We take the issues to the leadership who in turn look after the nationals.
“We need to make sure our issues are dealing with the reality. The topics must depend on the Government’s ability in execution, either through the questions we ask or the discussions we have.
“To execute such topics, we need patience. Citizens expect everything to be rushed, all the laws and amendments, and personally I see that there are many systems and rules that require the members to be patient and the citizen aware, so the changes will be accomplished. Changes cannot be made overnight.”
aalkhoori@thenational.ae
