Page 369 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Chapter Nine

ing ns one federal Slale or union. Il was not a constitution but more
the expression of an intention. There was no provision for a cabinet
of ministers, either in the draft or in the agreement. The legislative
power was reserved to the Supreme Council, consisting of the nine
Rulers.19 The Supreme Council was to draw up a constitution, to
formulate the policies of the State, to “legislate federal laws required
in this connection”20 and to prepare an annual budget.
The executive body of the federation was to be the “Federal
Council".21 In the draft this Council was intended to resemble a
parliament, and three councils concerned with defence, economy and
culture were to report to it. In the agreement the role of the Federal
Council was considerably reduced, and it was to operate under the
close supervision of the Supreme Council.22 The composition of the
Federal Council was to be left to be decided by law.23
The part of the agreement, entitled “General Rules", addressed
itself first to the need to co-operate in defending individual Emirates
and the State as a whole against external agression; secondly to the
Supreme Federal Court, whose functions were specified only in the
draft; thirdly to the need for the Supreme Council to decide on its
permanent headquarters; fourthly to the reservation to each Emirate
of the right to manage its own internal, non-federal affairs; and
finally to a provision that the Supreme Council could amend the
agreement “particularly if the amendment tends to make ties among
the member Amirates stronger.”24 As proposed in the draft, il was
decided that the agreement should come into force on 30 April 1968
and remain in force until superseded by a permanent charter.25
The comparison between the draft and the eventual text of the
agreement shows that, while the draft avoids rash unification of
administrative powers and abstains from aiming at a textbook
constitution which would have had no prospect of being adopted by
the nine Rulers, let alone of being implemented by the admini­
stration, the three days of bargaining by the Rulers and their
advisers in Dubai resulted in an even more vague document. All
participants in the Dubai meeting were very much in favour of
seeking strength in unity, but some had reservations about signing
away their prerogatives and sharing their own State’s achievements
and wealth. Others realised that although this agreement did not
provide for the enforcement of members’ participation, it was a
foundation on which to build, in time and with much patience, a
functional federal Stale.
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