[UPDATE 12/03/2005: See below]

UAE to Hold Elections to National Council
Arab News

DUBAI, 2 December 2005 — The United Arab Emirates yesterday announced partial elections to the Federal National Council (FNC). The announcement was made on the eve of the country’s national day and 13 months after the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan Al-Nahayan, passed away.

In a statement carried by the official WAM news agency, President Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan said half of the members of the Council would be elected while the remainder would be appointed as part of a “new effort to make the house more dynamic and energetic.”

The move comes amid growing American pressure on Arab countries to adopt democracy. The 22 members of the Arab League are unanimous that such changes should not be imposed by outside forces and that each country should be free to adopt its own reforms after taking into consideration the realities on the ground and domestic imperatives, particularly the tribal foundations.

This article from the Arab News is interesting in several ways. First, it is acknowledging that US pressure on Middle Eastern governments to develop their own forms of representational government is actually producing results. Second, a Saudi paper’s running this article is more than simple reportage; it’s also an endorsement of the idea. Finally, I note that only half of the positions will be elected, with the other half appointed. This is the same half-and-half model that the Saudi government used in the municipal elections held earlier this year. While the governments are willing to take a step forward, they are not willing to take a step off a cliff–or perhaps it’s Kierkegaard’s “blind leap of faith”–that a newly elected government, with no experience and no precedent, will know how to do the right things simply through being elected.

Half measures make sense in these circumstances. The first experiences in elected governments in the Gulf region–Kuwait and Bahrain–took place in the 1960s. Neither parliament lasted ten years before the governments had to shut them down as simply too dangerous. Both of those countries now have elected parliaments again, but they learned important lessons over a 25-year period. In both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, though, there really hasn’t been much experience with elected governments, though the Hijaz region of the KSA did have some forms of elections until the 1960s.

Consider these steps being taken forward, with the hope of not having to take two steps back…

[UPDATE: --- UAE President: Elections first step in reform process

Asharq al Awsat, Abu Dhabi- President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayid revealed on Friday that his decision to activate the role of the Federal National Council through the election of half its members was the first step in wide-ranging reforms. He also indicated that he would submit a proposal to the FNC recommending amendments to the country’s constitution.

Elaborating on the historic decision he announced on Thursday, Sheikh Khalifa said that it stipulates that the ruler of each of the seven UAE emirates will form a local council which will then elect half of the representatives of each emirate to the FNC with the other half appointed.

“The decision to introduce these reforms stems from the firm conviction of the UAE leadership on the importance of achieving wider and more effective participation of the citizens, men and women, in the building and development of the country so as to reinforce and protect the gains and achievements of their country”, the UAE President was quoted as saying by the Emirates news agency.]