Shaikh Zayed

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Shaikh Zayed Al-Nahyan

Shaikh Zayed rose to power in 1971. He had orginally been the ruler of Al-Ain, which is part of the Buraimi Oasis complex. When his brother the eccentric shaikh shakhbut, was deposed by family agreement, Shaikh Zayed replaced him in 1966 in ruling the state of Abu-Dhabi. However it is only in 1971 when the Union of Arab Emirates was formed that Shaikh Zayed was chosen for the post he still holds today which is, the head of state of the United Arab Emirates. He also remained the ruler of Abu Dhabi. He united seven emirates under his rule in the form of a federation. The UAE consist of 7 sovereign states: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujaira, Ras al- Khaima, Sharja and umm al-qawani. Each emirate is ruled by a prince from the royal family.
Shaikh Zayed created two councils, the supreme council, where all the rulers of the Emirates are represented and the second were all the advisors to the first council are represented. He was trying through this to form a parliamentary democracy in the UAE.
He is concerned with several issues. First, he is concerned with the problem of unity internally and externally. He believes in maintaining the cohesion between all Emirates. The UAE has an advantage that promotes its internal unity, because none of its individual members can aspire to complete independence, because of their minuscule size of population. Federation is therefore necessary. Shaikh Zayed presides over all issues concerning the UAE. Moreover, his prime aim is to promote and encourage peace, solidarity and unity among all Arab countries. He is known among all Arab countries to have this role. He strongly opposes the UN sanctions against Iraq. He pleaded among the gulf states and other countries like Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, to reconcile with Iraq and relieve its people from the sanctions imposed on them. Most of the states refused to deal with Iraq entirely. His strong belief in unity ...