Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XIX

4 2 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I The nation’s first president Following Britain’s announcement, Sheikh Zayed took the lead, along with Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Dubai, in calling for a federation of the Emirates. It was no easy task, and the negotiations were difficult at times: the incredible undertaking called for an entirely new sense of national identity, after generations of people from each individual emirate identifying with that place alone. However, with his skilful approach of building consensus through consultation, Sheikh Zayed convinced his neighbours that their future strength lay in unity, and that whilst uniting as a nation, each ruling family would maintain autonomy in its own emirate. And so it was that seven states followed the Sheikh’s vision, and on 2 December 1971, the flag of the newly formed United Arab Emirates was finally raised and a nation was born. Sheikh Zayed was elected by his fellow emirs as the first President of the UAE, a post to which he was successively re-elected several times over. In governing the newly formed nation, Sheikh Zayed drew fromArabian Bedouin traditions of consensus and consultation. At an informal level, this was a tradition long practiced through the majlis he became familiar with in his boyhood home, where a leading member of the community holds an “open-house” discussion meeting at which any individual may put forward views for discussion and consideration. Thus inspired, and recognising that Abu Dhabi was embarking on a process of rapid development, Sheikh Zayed formalised the majli system in 1970 and established the National Consultative Council, bringing together the leaders of each of the main tribes. A similar body was created in 1971 for the entire UAE: the Federal National Council, the state’s parliament. In a continuation of the philosophy that marked Sheikh Zayed’s leadership from the earliest days, his view as a HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan President and Founding Father of the United Arab attends ALGERIA - MARCH 01: Prince Fahd at the summit of Opep in Algiers, Algeria in March , 1975 -. (Photo by Gilbert UZAN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)