Page 392 - UAE Truncal States

The Formation of the Federation

The UAE proclaimed
While issues beyond the control of the six Trucial States thus came to
a head, the terms of reference for the federation were at long last
finalised during November 1971. On the 14lh the legal advisers of the
six Stales met in Abu Dhabi; on the 23rd the Ruler of Dubai had
discussions with the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and on 2nd December the
Rulers of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, 'Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain and
Fujairah, who had signed the provisional constitution in July 1971,
proclaimed the creation of the new State, the United Arab Emirates.
After this ceremony the Rulers met in their capacity as members of
the Supreme Council and elected Shaikh Zayid bin Sultan as the first
President, for a five-year term. Shaikh Rashid bin Sa'Id was elected
Vice-President, and his son Shaikh Maktum bin Rashid was
appointed Prime Minister.112 The door was left open for Ra’s al
Khaimah, and the hope was expressed that Bahrain and Qatar would
also join in due course.
A week later an eighteen-member cabinet was appointed, 113 in
which each Emirate was given portfolios roughly equal in number to
its weight in the federation: Abu Dhabi had six ministerial posts,
Dubai four, Sharjah three and the other three Emirates had one each.
Some important members of the seven ruling families had to be
accommodated within this frame, while the still small group of
technocrats were also eligible for ministerial posts—themselves all
members of prominent families in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah
who had sent their sons abroad for further education. Eventually a
number of Under-Secretaries and Deputy Ministers were also
appointed to the various ministries,114 whose task was to co-ordinate
the activities of the already well established departments of some
emirates with the embryonic federal ministries.
On 6 December 1971 the UAE joined the Arab League and on 9
December 1971 it became a member of the United Nations.
On 1 December the protection treaties between Britain and the
seven Trucial States were terminated. The following day Sir Geoffrey
Arthur, the outgoing Political Resident in the Gulf, and Shaikh Zayid,
President of the newly proclaimed state of the UAE, signed a treaty of
friendship in Dubai; Queen Elizabeth and the British Prime Minister
were among the first to congratulate the President and the new State.
The British Political Agent in Abu Dhabi, C.J. Treadwell, became the
first British Ambassador to the UAE, while the British Political
Agent in Dubai became the Consul-General there.
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