Page 27 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS xxvii

impending withdrawal of British forces from the Gulf, the seven
Rulers of thcTrucial States met in Dubai on 18 July 1971, and agreed
to form a new Union known as the “State of the United Arab
Emirates”. The Rulers also approved a “Provisional Constitution”,
which was, in fact, a revised form of the proposed constitution for
the defunct “Federation of Arab Emirates”. Further, it was agreed
that the approved Provisional Constitution should be operative
from a date to be fixed by the Rulers in the future.1

II LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
After surveying in the previous part of this Introduction the
political developments in the Gulf, it seems convenient to devote
this part to discussing the legal and constitutional developments
with respect to the States of Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates
and the Sultanate of Oman.

State of Bahrain
In an announcement to his people on 14 August 1971, the Amir
(then known as Ruler) of Bahrain declared his country an
independent sovereign State. And on 15 August, the Amir and the
British Political Resident in the Gulf, Sir Geoffrey Arthur,
exchanged Notes ending the previous “Exclusive Agreements” of
1880 and 1892 between Bahrain and Britain, by virtue of which the
British Government assumed responsibility for Bahrain’s defence
and foreign relations for nearly 100 years.2 On the same date, the
1. See Kccsing’s Contemporary Archives (1971-1972), pp. 24731 A, 24500A. It
should be noted that the provisional Federal Constitution was approved by six
Trucical States only. The seventh State, Ras al-Khaimah, attended the above-
mentioned meeting, but declined to approve the said Constitution at the time.
Ras al-Khaimah had certain reservations about the number of seats allocated to
her in the Federal Council. The Provisional Constitution of the seven United
Arab Emirates allocates (in Article 68, which deals with the composition of the
Federal Council) 8 seats for each of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, 6 seats for each of
Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah, and 4 seats for each of Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain
and Fujairah. Ras al-Khaimah demanded 8 seats instead of 6. However, Ras
al-Khaimah dropped her demands later and signed the Constitution.
Accordingly, Ras al-Khaimah was formally admitted to the Federation on 10
February, 1972.
Ras al-Khaimah’s accession to the United Arab Emirates was contained in
Resolution No. 2 for 1972 of the Union Supreme Council made on 10 February
1972, (See UAE Official Gazette No 2 (2nd year) March 1972).
2. Exchange of Notes concerning the Termination of Special Treaty Relations:
Treaty Series No. 78 (1971) Comnd. 4827. The Exchange of Notes entered into
force on the same date (15 August 1971). The Note (No. 1) from Her Britannic
Majesty ’s Political Resident to the Amir (Ruler) of Bahrain stated that in view of
the desire of the Government of Bahrain to “resume full international