UAE DEMOCRATIC REFORM STRATEGY: QUARTERLY PROGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 002881

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2016
TAGS: KDEM KMPI ETRD PGOV AE
SUBJECT: UAE DEMOCRATIC REFORM STRATEGY: QUARTERLY PROGRESS
UPDATE (APRIL-JUNE '06)

REF: A. ABU DHABI 2655

B. ABU DHABI 1327

C. ABU DHABI 16

D. 05 ABU DHABI 4113

E. 05 ABU DHABI 3043

F. 05 ABU DHABI 2173

G. 05 STATE 152818

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary: Since the April 6 submission of the quarterly
UAE Democratic Reform Strategy update (ref B) there has been
limited substantive movement in our reform strategy (ref G).
Planning for the indirect elections of the Federal National
Council (FNC) continues to progress and has sparked an active
public debate on the future of the FNC (ref A). In April,
members of the Abu Dhabi National Consultative Council
attended a National Council of State Legislatures sponsored
symposium in Washington D.C.. And in May, the International
Republican Institute conducted their first ever program in
the UAE--a Women's Campaign School for Gulf women leaders.


2. (C) Summary cont.: Although there has been some positive
movement in media reform with discussions in June to form the
first UAE publishers association, no movement has been made
on the draft press freedoms law. Lack of access to either
draft legislation or raw statistical data from the census
completed in 2005 in addition to complaints from local
chambers of commerce that UAEG "consultations" on Free Trade
Agreement negotiations are in fact not consultative,
illustrate the opacity of UAEG actions. On the positive
side, amendments to the Commercial Agencies law increased
contract law openness, and progress has been made towards
ministerial independence and accountability, with the promise
of full financial independence soon. Anti-corruption efforts
continued to progress: official investigations into
corruption in the Ministry of Labor identified in April over
90 transaction forgeries; continuing investigations were
reported in the press. No progress was made on justice reform
goals. End Summary.

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Representative Government
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3. (C) On June 26, the UAE Cabinet approved the structure for
the Federal National Council (FNC) General Secretariat, in
preparation for the indirect elections of the FNC to be held
later this year. In conversations with Ambassador, Dr. Anwar
Ghargash, Minister of FNC Affairs, and Sheikh Nahyan bin
Mubarak, Minister of Higher Education, emphasized that the
FNC indirect elections are not actually an exercise in
democracy, but a move towards greater political participation
(ref A). Dr. Ghargash also stated that his ministry is
preparing for the elections by drafting campaign bylaws and
balloting procedures that emphasize procedural transparency.
These bylaws and procedures will be implemented by a National
Elections Committee that has yet to be formed.


4. (C) Contrary to some reports that there will be FNC seats
reserved for women, Ghargash stated that there is no such
requirement, but that he anticipates Emirate rulers to use
the appointment of the second half of the FNC to ensure
diversity and representation in case no women are elected.
He did note that the proposed list of electors from the
Emirate of Dubai contained the names of over 200 women out of
approximately 1,000 names.


5. (C) From April 6-8, four members of the Abu Dhabi National
Consultative Council (NCC) attended the Spring Forum of the
National Council of State Legislatures' (NCSL) Standing
Committees. The head of the Emirati delegation, NCC member
Ghaith Al-Ghaith Al-Kubaisi, previously told Emboffs that Abu
Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MbZ)
specifically requested NCC participation with NCSL and that
he wants the NCC to plan elections for half of its membership
following the FNC example.

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Civil Society Development
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6. (U) In May, a MEPI-sponsored International Republican
Institute (IRI) "Women's Campaign School" training session
was held in Dubai. Gargash and ForMin Abdullah bin Zayed
Al-Nahyan(AbZ) personally approved this first-ever
International Republican Institute (IRI) activity prior to
its launch. The program provided five women business and
political leaders from the UAE, in addition to women from
Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, training in how to
develop a message, work with the media to present the
message, and to develop a grassroots organization around that
message. Sessions were also held on campaign organization,
strategy, and finance. Speakers in the conference included

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US Dept. of Transportation Deputy Secretary Maria Cino, and
NEA Special Advisor Erin Walsh.


7. (C) Both the English and Arabic language press have
covered the indirect elections of the FNC, including a lively
public debate about the UAEG's motivation, the future role of
the FNC and comment whether a quota for women is desirable.
The publication of criticism and speculation about the UAEG
suggests a new willingness within the press to pursue a
political dialogue other than that initiated by the
government.


8. (U) The Dubai Women's College turned its appointed student
council into an elected "Student Parliament" and held open
elections for its membership in May. These elections are the
result of an International Visitor Program-funded effort that
Post designed in FY 05. Under this program, six student
leaders representing five women's colleges in the Higher
Colleges of Technology went to the U.S. to observe student
government in action. This program was followed by a MEPI
Small Grants Project that brought a group from Mt. Holyoke
College to the Dubai Women's College to instruct the
appointed student government about characteristics of elected
student government, how to run a campaign, how to run
meetings, and the role of student government vis--vis the
administration. These two programs directly led to a
proposal by the students and an agreement with the
administration to change the form of student government to a
"Student Parliament."

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Media Reform
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9. (U) In June, the two largest publishers in the UAE,
Motivate Publishing and ITP, met to discuss the formation of
a UAE publishers association. The publishers announced that
their initial focus will be on the issues of circulation
audits an transparency. Other leading publishers including
those responsible for the major dailies "Al-Khaleej", "Gulf
News", and "Khaleej Times" have been invited to join.


10. (U) There has been no movement on the draft freedom of
the press legislation that the UAE Journalists Association
submitted to the Ministery of Information earlier this year.

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Transparency
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11. (C) Transparency continues to be an area of positive,
albeit slow, progress. Despite small movements towards
openness, UAEG actions remain largely opaque. For example,
this spring, during the ongoing U.S./UAE Free Trade Agreement
(FTA) negotiations, the UAEG reached out to business leaders
in each of the emirates' chambers of commerce. However,
chamber officials have told us that they feel the UAEG is not
really "consulting" with them about the FTA or fully
answering their questions, but rather that it is simply
informing them of decisions already made. Although the
national census was completed several months ago, no results
have been published, and the raw data reportedly will not be
released at all. And despite repeated requests over the past
year for labor related statistics, the UAEG has been
unwilling to provide Post with even basic labor statistics.


12. (U) In June, President Sheikh Khalifa amended the
Commercial Agencies law. These amendments limit agency
contracts to a fixed period of time, require mutual consent
to renew an agency agreement, allow either party to file for
damages, and allows the import of "liberalized goods" without
an agent's approval. Minister of Economy Sheikha Lubna
Al-Qasimi told the press that these amendments will boost the
competitive economic environment and assure higher quality
services. The new law signifies positive movement in the
implementation of rule of law and growing openness in
contract law.


13. (U) In June, UAE Minister for Presidential Affairs,
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, announced that federal
ministries would be given full financial and administrative
independence in order to achieve the objectives laid out by
President Sheikh Khalifa in the national action charter last
December. Ministry of Commerce Under Secretary Abdullah
Saleh told EconChief that this spring he was allowed to pass
over several career civil servants due for promotion, and
next year he expects to have the ability to fire
underperformers.


14. (U) In April, a special investigations committee formed
to examine corruption within the Ministry of Labor,
discovered forgeries in 90 transactions. The investigations
committee is currently pursuing an investigation into these
forged transactions, and MoL officials have vowed to discover

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and prosecute all persons involved. This report is
particularly noteworthy not only because official corruption
is being investigated, but that it is has been publicly
reported in the press.

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Justice Reform
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15. (U) There has been no movement on justice reform goals.
SISON