In mid-February, a new Emirate government began to work in the United Arab Emirates, the composition of which was announced by the Vice President and Prime Minister, ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and approved by the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa.
According to Sheikh Mohammed, the changes are dictated by the desire to give the cabinet "greater flexibility" and to promote "the efficiency of its work at the level of world standards" so that every resident of the country can feel the results of his work. The task of the government is the comprehensive development of all the emirates that are part of the federal state in order to raise them to the level of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
In the second government of Sheikh Mohammed, he retained the post of Minister of Defense. The sons of Sheikh Zayed - sheikhs Sultan and Hamdan, who hold the posts of deputy prime ministers, as well as Sheikhs Safe, Mansur and Abdullah, who respectively head the ministries of internal affairs, presidency and foreign affairs, have preserved their portfolios.
Sheikh Zayed’s nephew, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Sheikh Nahayyan bin Mubarak and brother of the ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, remained in the government.
5 ministers left the government and 7 new ones entered. 4 new ministries were created and 2 were reformed. About half of the cabinet members retained their posts in ministries that had not changed. According to local analysts, the most important changes have occurred in the ministries of foreign affairs and finance. The first was left by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Muhammad al-Shuali. He was replaced at this post by Anwar Gargash. He will also continue to act as Minister of State for the affairs of the Federal National Council, the holding of the last election which is considered his great success.
Muhammad Harbash, the former Minister of State for Finance and Industry, was replaced by the Dubai technocrat, head of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and electrical engineer Obeid Humeyd at-Tair. This graduate of the American University of Colorado, founder and owner of the Gulf News newspaper, known as the “master of numbers,” became the state secretary of state for finance.
A new ministry of foreign trade has been created in the cabinet to control the trade turnover that has grown sharply in recent years and to negotiate with the WTO. The head of this ministry is entrusted to the former Minister of Economics - Sheikh Lubne al-Qasimi. Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri, who headed the Ministry of Development of the Government Sector in the former cabinet, was appointed Minister of Economy.
Ali al-Qa'abi, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, has been removed from government. The appointment was received by the former UAE Ambassador to the United States with the rank of Minister Sakr Gobash Said Gobash, who also held the posts of Deputy Minister of the Interior and Deputy Minister of Culture and Information until the dissolution of this ministry.
Along with the two current female ministers, Sheikh Lyubnaya and the Minister of Social Affairs, Maryam ar-Rumi, two more women entered the government. The posts of state ministers were taken by Maryam Ibrahim al-Hashemi and Meysa Salem al-Shamsi. The first of them was educated in the UK and the USA, worked in the executive board (government) of Dubai, was the Deputy Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States and the Assistant Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Economic Affairs. The second, having a doctorate, studied in Egypt, was vice-rector of the emirate university for scientific work.
The emirate’s government now has more female ministers than any other Arab country, and as many as Germany. The UAE is only ahead of France, where 7 women hold ministerial posts.
