Page 415 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Chapter Nine

about and involve themselves actively in the political scene of this
Federation have, and often express, their doubts about its function
and even its ability to survive. Apart from the quantifiable reasons
for such doubts, some of which will be dealt with below, these doubts
originate to a large extent in the uncertainties in the minds of actors
and commentators about what a federal system can mean for a State.
Many people wrongly assume that the federal solution is only one
step removed from a disjointed conglomerate of individual Stales
and that the federal Stale should therefore really be treated as a
transitional stage to be followed as soon as feasible by a centralistic
Stale which, in their view, is the best and only guarantee against a
break up of the UAE. They see a great danger in the diversity of the
seven Slates, in the very different stages of each Slate’s development
and in the individualistic approach of their local governments. They
aspire to even out these differences. To them the most obvious way to
this end seems to be maximum centralisation and minimum power to
the individual State governments.
Yet there is also the argument that the cle facto preservation of
independent statehood in each of the seven Emirates may in the end
render vital strength to the Federation, because it is in the individual
States where the tribal grass-root democracy survives best, while a
formal western style democracy is still in the process of being grafted
onto the present system of government, as it evolved during the first
ten years of the UAE’s existence.
The validity of either of the two views on the most desirable course
of the young State’s attitude to the federal system can only be
determined after considering the causes of inter-federal disputes and
of as yet unresolved problems which the Federation faces.
Divergence and tension exist in particular in such vital issues as
financing and defending the Federation, and influencing the popu­
lation structure. Last but not least the various degrees of assertion of
independence by the seven ruling families and by each Emirate’s
merchant community in various fields periodically disturb the
political climate within the UAE.
The financial issue has several dimensions. Firstly there is the
question of whether Abu Dhabi as the source of the Slate’s revenues
should expect to dominate the Federation’s policies. Or on the other
hand, can the Federation be considered a viable entity if the
individual Emirates accept all the material benefits which they gain
from the federal government, while withholding at will acknowledge-

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