Abu Dhabi’s generosity encouraged the Trucial States to unite

In an interview conducted by the London newspaper The Times, published in October 1968, the ruler of Abu Dhabi confirmed that the ideal union in his view is one that consists of the nine emirates, but if difficulties are encountered in achieving this at the present time, a union that includes the seven Trucial Emirates is better. From a union that includes only three or four of them, especially after the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of the richest emirate, confirmed that “Abu Dhabi oil and all… Its resources and capabilities serve all the Emirates,” as she knew that those words are always followed by generous actions.

A meeting of the Trucial States was held two days later, in which the seven rulers, under British auspices, discussed developmental projects and agreed to a budget of two million pounds sterling, and an additional budget of 300,000 pounds sterling. At a meeting a week later, it was agreed to form committees for education, health, immigration, and citizenship problems. The most important agreement was the establishment of federal land, air and naval forces under a unified command to replace the British forces after their withdrawal at the end of 1971, allowing each emirate to maintain its own national guard.

At this time, the rulers, their families and advisors had accepted the idea that their joining the federation required them to recognize the authority of federal institutions, and successive statements made by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of the richest emirate, in which he asserted that “Abu Dhabi oil and all… “its resources and capabilities to serve all the Emirates,” to encourage the poor member Emirates on the Trucial Coast to continue the federal process, because they knew that those words were always followed. With generous actions.

The idea of ​​establishing a union benefited greatly from the presence of an enthusiastic and generous supporter of the idea of ​​the union, especially in the eyes of skeptical foreign observers.

At the Supreme Council meeting held in May 1969, a committee of special advisors to the rulers and legal experts was formed to prepare a draft of the constitution within two months, and submit it to legal experts abroad to study it and issue their observations and recommendations regarding it.

The Egyptian legal advisor and expert, Dr. Wahid Raafat, who had previously been asked by the Qatari government to express his legal opinion, was assigned to study the text of the draft within a month before submitting it to the arbiters. The expert, Dr. Al-Sanhouri, who was appointed in July 1968, fell ill shortly afterward. All that his assistant, Dr. Hassan Torabi, had done up to that time had been limited to preparing a questionnaire and visiting the governments of member states. This slow pace by constitutional experts contrasts with the increasing activity of advisors to the rulers and local political figures.

The Supreme Council meeting held in May 1969 was followed by a long period of stagnation in the summer, and the visit of the rulers of the second major emirates to London during that summer was not just a coincidence, as the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, they made official visits at various times, and the rulers of Bahrain and Sharjah and the Deputy Ruler of Qatar went on private visits to London, and they all held talks with… Officials at the British Foreign Office, including Minister of State Goronwy Roberts, through which the British government made clear that it attached great importance to the success of the union plan.

On October 21, 1969, the nine rulers came to Abu Dhabi to attend the sixth meeting of the Supreme Council. The statement included 13 points, including the election of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as the first president of the federation, and the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, as vice president. It also included choosing Abu Dhabi as a temporary capital, building a permanent capital on the border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and appointing Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad, Deputy Ruler of Qatar, as head of a government that includes… 13 ministers, and each emirate can propose three candidates to it. The Supreme Council did not review the draft constitution in detail at that time.

The victory achieved by the Conservatives in the elections added more doubts and renewed hopes that Britain would cancel the withdrawal, and while the essence of the official consultations in July 1970 constituted a general consensus of opinion, according to the statement of Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad: “We do not accept any foreign presence.” In our region, whether British or elsewhere.” While the British press interpreted the British Foreign Secretary’s meeting with the Shah in Brussels as a cautious move towards the continued British presence in the Gulf, most of the rulers of the Trucial States informed the British government that they welcomed the British forces remaining in the Gulf. The Conservative government considered that the entire issue of the British presence in the Gulf was still open.

Most members of the union were more eager than ever to make decisions not to abort the status quo and the developments they hoped to bring about by taking decisive decisions on important federal issues, and so the next meeting of the deputy governors, which was scheduled to be held on August 22, was postponed to October 24.

In October 1970, the British government did not clarify whether it would adhere to the withdrawal plan or the timetable for its implementation, but the rulers were likely fully aware that the Conservative government was also preparing to end Britain’s role in protecting the Gulf, and the Foreign Minister in the Conservative Party government at the time advised Alec Douglas S. Hume, the Nine Governors, strongly urged them to continue building the Union.

*Source: From the Trucial States to the United Arab Emirates, Frauke Heard-Bey