Questioning members of the Government, and the pressure of knowing all session minutes are readily available to the public, have led to some strong moments for members inside the council chambers. During marathon sessions held in the capital, FNC members have utilised their power to make a number of aggressive calls and stands, heating up discussions and putting ministers in the hot seat. Here’s the five boldest moments:
Appointing the first female deputy speaker
One record the council has been proud of has been the participation of women in politics.
Following presidential amendments to laws governing the work of the FNC in 2005, women were allowed into the council starting from 2006, when the first elections were held.
Despite a concern over whether women would win votes, one woman, Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, was voted to the council. In 2011 she was reappointed by the leadership. During the first FNC sessions she was voted deputy speaker, making her the first woman to hold that position in a GCC national assembly.
Refusing to pass the closing accounts of 2010
In 2011, members of the FNC refused to debate the 2010 end-of-year closing account bill in protest against numerous instances of alleged misspending and rule breaches that were repeated year after year, with no clear mechanism to help auditors to keep ministries and other entities from making the errors. They claimed there was misuse of the budget.
Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State for FNC Affairs, told the council that this was not their constitutional right and they had to proceed by reviewing and passing the closing bill.
The council members insisted they had the right, but a compromise was reached when the report was sent back to the council’s back bench to be reviewed before another public hearing.
Calling for a Human Rights Committee
Following the European Parliament’s October 2012 resolution criticising the UAE’s human-rights record, taking the UAE to task over civil liberties, conditions for migrant workers, the status of women, the death penalty, human trafficking, press freedom and gender equality, the FNC lobbied for a new human-rights committee in the council.
Pressure from UAE citizens also pushed FNC members to act, believing such reports tainted the country’s image.
In December 2012, the Government gave council the right to form such a committee. The FNC decided the committee would act as an intermediary between the European Union and the UAE Government, to help to protect human rights in the country.
Since the committee's formation, however, work has been slow. So far only a work plan has been drawn up, and a proposal for a law on women's rights reviewed.
Giving unprecedented power for child removal
During discussions of the country's first Child Rights law, formerly known as Wadeema's law after an eight-year-old was tortured to death by her father and his girlfriend, council members insisted that childcare specialists be given full rights to remove children from their homes if they were found to be in imminent danger, despite concerns that this would be unconstitutional.
Members agreed that a child’s well-being was a matter that could not be bargained over when lawyers in the council objected to the clause, saying it would be an invasion into people’s private lives.
Calling for the removal of the utilities head
After a four-hour debate in November 2012 with the Minister of Energy, Mohammed Al Hamili, two members urged the minister to sack Mohammed Saleh, director general of the Federal Water and Electricity Authority, shocking members of the Government.
Mohammed Al Qubaisi (Abu Dhabi) and Faisal Al Teniji (RAK) made the call following a series of complaints over power cuts and poor water quality in the Northern Emirates, and of over-chlorination. It was later noted that the council’s call was not official as no formal vote was taken but the decision was made by acclamation.
osalem@thenational.ae
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years-of-age
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his/her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30-years-old and able to support the child financially
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013