Page 388 - Truncal States to UAE_Neat

The Formation of the Federation

agreement was reached at long last on the real topic of the meeting,
which was the Federation. A communique was issued on 18 July 1971
announcing the formation of the State of the United Arab Emirates,
comprising six of the Trucial States. Ra’s al Khaimah was not yet
ready to compromise on the issue of representation in the Union
Council. The Rulers approved a revised version of the constitution
which had been intended for the now defunct nine-member Union of
Arab Emirates. This constitution was now referred to as "provi­
sional”, to come into effect on a date still to be determined by the
Rulers and to be superseded by a permanent constitution.
In their joint communique the Rulers expressed their hope "that
this Federation will form the nucleus of a complete federation which
will include the remaining members of the brotherly family of
emirates.”99
Delegations were sent to various Arab countries to explain the
structure and the policy of the new State; Shaikh Zayid and Shaikh
Rashid sent personal representatives to London to confer with the
British authorities over the actual process of transferring certain
authorities to the new Arab State. Membership in the UN, the Arab
League, and other international organisations was sought.

Making it workable
The July agreement was a milestone in the creation of the UAE,
providing the framework within which the governmental insti­
tutions could be evolved in the discussions during subsequent
weeks.100
The withdrawal of Bahrain and Qatar from the federation meant
that a large number of experienced civil servants were no longer
available to set up and run the federal administration. The six
Emirates were forced to look more closely at the availability of such
people within their own borders. Also their attention was more
closely focused on their own domestic problems, as opposed to those
of the larger federation. These problems were accentuated by the
3
poor communications which still existed then between the Emirates,
as illustrated by the absence of an asphalted road across the hun­
dred miles of desert between Abu Dhabi and Dubai or across the
mountains to Fujairah. At that time, too, the telephone system linking
the Emirates was still rudimentary and only available to a few in the
larger population centres. The authorities who had hitherto con­
ducted the federation discussions could only begin to tackle the very
363