ABU DHABI // From debates on encouraging breastfeeding to demands for better health care, the Federal National Council has had a busy year that is about to get busier.
As the end of their four-year terms rapidly approaches, members seem to have upped their work, covering an array of topics from education to Emiratisation.
Social debates, however, seem to have been the most memorable for those following the council’s work, with some making international headlines.
Ahmed Al Amash has been a leader in this area with his occasionally controversial statements. He started off the year claiming that he was seeing fewer Emiratis in traditional dress and ended the year saying Emirati men needed to marry local women, not foreigners. Mid-year he called on the state to increase housing allowances for men with more than one wife, reasoning that polygamy was essential to reduce the number of single women in the UAE.
His follow-up comments were not welcomed by many.
The addition of a clause to the Child Rights Law giving all children the right to be breastfed also sparked debate outside the council. Despite a caution from Mariam Al Roumi, the Minister of Social Affairs, members insisted on including it.
They insisted the law was to encourage mothers, not punish them. But these were not the council’s most notable moments of 2014. Those moments were the demands made to reform health care in the Northern Emirates, calling for better wages for teachers and increased government scrutiny of the federal budget.
Social debates did not stop with breastfeeding, either. Although less controversial, Mosabeh Al Kitbi (Sharjah), had his fair share of social debates.
He always says his questions come from public requests and this year he brought up issues not previously debated in public – including the issue of wives abandoned by their husbands, a topic the Minister of Social Affairs says is not widespread.
The council also held three days of discussions on the Child Rights Law, making changes, changing their minds and then making more changes. Possibly the most crucial part of that debate was a clause giving officials the power to remove a child from his or her home if found to be in imminent danger.
Despite questions raised about constitutionality, and the public seeking out FNC members to discourage allowing such broad powers to strangers, the council passed the vote. A majority said a child’s life is more important than the sanctity of a home.
Education has been a major concern this year. After the Cabinet retreat at the end of 2013, Ali Al Nuaimi (Ajman) started 2014 by questioning the Minister of Higher Education about some of the plans that focused on education and health reforms. While everyone understood that the foundation year at state universities was going to be scrapped, no timeline had been set. Mr Al Nuaimi’s question in the FNC was vital to ensure that the Government committed to a date. This gave state schools the green light to start making necessary changes to prepare pupils to enrol straight into their courses without extra English classes.
Many debates also led to ministers revealing their plans publicly for the first time.
When Mr Al Nuami called for healthier food options in private schools, the Minister of Health, Dr Abdulrahman Al Owais, revealed a federal law was in the works to ensure this. When members called for Arabic to be the language of instruction in schools, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, head of the Arabic Language Advisory Council, revealed a new law would achieve just that. And when members spoke of the lack of Emiratis in the private sector – after years of calling for changes to the labour law – the Minister of Labour, Saqr Ghobash, told members a new law would ensure locals would receive similar pay to those in the public sector.
While the vast majority of the public is unaware of most of the council’s achievements, the FNC members know they have had an exceptional term – despite their limited influence. This was clear when members asked for more credit for their work, complaining that many Government projects were generated in the FNC chambers but ministries took full credit for them later. A plan to ensure the FNC gets due credit could well be what is needed to ensure the public is more aware of the changes the FNC has brought about and its role in policy making.
osalem@thenational.ae
