UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a Federal Decree on Monday announcing the formation of 40-member Federal National Council (FNC) for the seventeenth legislative Chapter. Half of the council’s members are women

“The Decree stipulated that the 17th legislative chapter of the Federal National Council will be made up of 40 members representing all emirates of the country, including 20 women constituting 50 percent of the total members,” informed the country’s state media WAM.

The FNC will convene on Thursday, 14th November.

The decree includes the names of the members of the Federal National Council 2019 as follows:

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi: Saqr Ghubash Saeed Al Marri, Dr. Ali Rashid Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Hawwa’ Saeed Salim Al Dhahaak Al Mansouri, Khalfan Rashid Al Nayli Al Shamsi, Suhail Nukhairah Suhail Al Affari; Moaza Mohammed Saeed Al Amri, Mira Sultan Nasser Mohammed Al Suwaidi and Naema Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Mansouri.

Emirate of Dubai: Osama Ahmad Abdullah Al Sha’far, Hamad Ahmad Sultan Al Rahoumi, Jameela Ahmed Mohammed bin Omair Al Muhairi; Sarah Mohammed Amin Filknaz, Dr. Tariq Humaid Mohammed Mattar Al Tayer; Dirar Humaid Abdullah Humaid Belhoul, Aysha Mohammed Saeed Al Mulla, and Mariam Majed Khalfan bin Thania.

Emirate of Sharjah: Humaid Ali Al Abbar Al Shamsi, Shaza Saeed Ali Al Naqbi, Aysha Reda Hussain Al Bayraq, Obaid Khalfan Obaid Al Ghoul, Adnan Hamad Mohammed Al Hammadi, and Kifah Mohammed Nasser Al Shahsi Al Zaabi.

Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah: Ahmed Abdullah Mohammed Al Shihhi, Saeed Rashid Abdullah Al Abdi, Sumaiya Abdullah Salim bin Hareb Al Suwaidi, Naema Abdullah Saeed Al Sharhan, Dr. Nidal Mohammed bin Shirbak Al Tunaiji, and Yousef Abdullah Batran Al Shihhi Emirate of Ajman Ahmad Hamad Abu Shihab Al Suwaidi; Afra’a Bakhit Saif bin Hindi Al Olayli; Marwan Obaid Ali Muhairi, and Hind Humaid bin Hindi Al Olayli Emirate of Umm Al Qaiwain Aysha Rahid Sultan Leteem Al Ali, Athra Hassan Humaid bin Rakkad, Ali Jassim Ahmed Jassim Al Ali, and Mohammed Issa Obaid Al Kashef.

Emirate of Fujairah: Dr. Sheikha Obaid Khaleef Al Tunaiji, Sabreen Hasan Saeed Al Yamahi; Mohammed Ahmad Mohammed Ahmed Al Yamahi, and Nasser Mohammed Humaid Khamis Al Yamahi The Federal National Council is one of the five federal authorities stipulated in the constitution, namely the Federal Supreme Council, the President and Vice-President, the Cabinet, the Federal National Council, and the Federal Judiciary.

The 40-member FNC is the consultative council, the parliamentary body of the UAE. Twenty members are elected and the remaining 20 are appointed. The number of council seats is distributed among the UAE emirates. FNC’s chief functions include:

• passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws including financial bills
• examining the Annual General Budget draft law and the draft law of the final accounts
• discussing international treaties and agreements
• discussing general subject pertaining to the affairs of the Federation and offering recommendations