International report classifies UAE as despotic state that lacks freedoms

An international report ranked the UAE as a despotic state without any democratic freedoms or path, ranking 145th out of 167 countries in the world.

The annual Democracy Index issued by the British Economist magazine highlighted the continuation of the policy of repression towards any criticism of the UAE’s domestic and foreign policy, towards demands for reform and the continuing approach of arrests of political and human rights activists since the regional turmoil in 2011.

Democracy was measured in the 2019 report based on the extent of adherence to criteria: the electoral process and pluralism, government performance, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties, then each country was included in any of these fields based on their degree in the previous criteria: “Countries with complete democracy ”, and countries with flawed democracy or “hybrid systems”, they combine democracy, tyranny, and authoritarian regimes.

The index is not based on the quality of the system of government if it is royal – hereditary – or republican, and is based on a scale that ranges from zero to 10 so that 10 is the highest empowered, and is based on several criteria such as civil liberties, the electoral process, pluralism, government performance, political participation and political culture.

The UAE obtained 2.79 out of 10 in the index, most of which go to political culture and government performance.

The UAE maintained its ranking within these criteria, as it obtained zero out of 10 in the electoral process and pluralism, in government performance 3.9 out of 10, in political participation 2.2 out of 10, and political culture 5.00 out of 10 In civil liberties, the state obtained a result of 2.65 out of 10. They are identical to last year’s index.

It is noticeable in the results related to civil liberties and political culture, highlighting the gap between the political awareness of the Emiratis and their participation in elections and political participation, which is absent as the elections are zero while political culture 5, although citizens are certainly more aware of politics and the economy.

The rating indicated the elections held in the UAE last year for half of the 40-member Federal National Council (similar to Parliament) 50% of the seats in which were reserved for women.

The Federal National Council does not have any powers to participate in decision-making, but its role is limited to providing advice only, as the UAE was against the backdrop of a wave of protests across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, the government increased the total number of voters in the elections from 6 689 Emiratis chose them in 2006 to 129274, however the participation rate was low 28%.

Elections were also held for half of the members of the commission in October 2015 with the expansion of the mandate to 224,279 Emiratis, but the participation rate was still low, reaching 35%. The first general suffrage elections can be held in 2019, although authorities have not begun preparations to expand voting.

The report referred to the political situation in the Emirates, where it considered that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has greater authority at the level of the United Arab Emirates thanks to his dominant influence on policy-making in Abu Dhabi, given Sheikh Khalifa’s rule because of his health status and the importance of Abu Dhabi within the Union, “which makes Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed de facto ruler of the Emirates.”

The security authorities claiming democracy is considered a “crime”, as dozens of Emiratis have imprisoned over the past few years of claimants to a full-fledged National Council, in notorious political trials, and have built laws to criminalize the simplest criticisms on social networks, which has brought tens of Emiratis, Arabs, and even foreigners to prison for they express their opinion.

The report believes that Abu Dhabi is the most influential emirate, due to its vast energy-related wealth, and that federal government appointments are largely decided by Abu Dhabi, and that the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chief of Procurement Mohamed bin Zayed is the one who dictates defense policy instead of the Minister of Defense Sheikh Mohamed Ben Rached.

However, despite the 2009 debt crisis and financial assistance provided by Abu Dhabi, there was little intervention by the Emirate of Capital in economic affairs in Dubai.