edf40wrjww2CF_PaperMaster:Desc
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Since the establishment of the federation in 1971, the seven emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have forged a distinct national identity through consolidation of their federal status and enjoy an enviable degree of political stability. The UAE's political system, a unique combination of the traditional and the modern, has underpinned this political success, enabling the country to develop a modern administrative structure while, at the same time, ensuring that the best of the traditions of the past are maintained, adapted and preserved.
Over the course of 2007, major steps have been taken, both at a federal and at a local level, in terms of reforming the structure of government, these steps being designed both to make it more responsive to the needs of the country's population and to ensure that it is better equipped to cope with the challenges of development, in all spheres, in a manner that is in keeping with current best practices in administration and the delivery of services, as well as being more cost-effective.
The process has been directed, at a federal level, by the country's President, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and has been devised and guided at an executive level by the Vice President and Prime Minister, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who has also overseen reforms in Dubai. Similar programmes have been launched in other member emirates of the federation, in particular by its largest component, Abu Dhabi, again directed by HH Sheikh Khalifa, as Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and implemented by the Crown Prince and Chairman of Abu Dhabi's Executive Council, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The most important development during 2007 ...