DUBAI // Emiratis hoping to be elected to the Federal National Council later this year will find that their salaries are on a par with others in the region, and not anywhere near the rumoured Dh1 million a month.
FNC members are paid Dh50,000 a month, with a Dh25,000 pension and full health insurance for life, which is only marginally higher than in Bahrain, where members of parliament earn Dh46,262 a month.
In Qatar, members of the shura council earn Dh42,366, while Kuwaiti MPs earn less at Dh26,594. British politicians get Dh31,580 a month, but US senators or congresspeople earn more than most at Dh53,260 a month.
Ali Jassim, an FNC member for Umm Al Quwain, revealed members’ earnings and dismissed the rumours of a Dh1m monthly wage as untrue.
A deduction of Dh2,000 is made towards a pension from each member’s salary.
All 40 members are given diplomatic passports for five years as soon as they are elected or appointed to the FNC.
Members also have diplomatic immunity, meaning they are not liable to litigation or prosecution by local authorities. Historically, this has been to allow members to perform their duties freely.
Diplomatic immunity also includes an exemption from traffic fines, but diplomats are subject to prosecution for crimes they are caught committing. It is not removed from members except by order from the Minister of Justice, and by a majority ruling from the FNC.
The Speaker of the FNC, a position currently held by Mohammed Al Murr (Dubai), receives a monthly salary equivalent to that of a Federal Minister, the sum of which remains undisclosed.
The previous Speaker, Abdulaziz Al Ghurair (Dubai), reportedly gave up millions of dirhams in accumulated benefits from his position. It was also revealed that he had paid off all his traffic fines after social-media attacks on his diplomatic benefits.
The attacks followed a letter from the FNC being made public, which requested his fines be removed by Dubai Police.
Members’ salaries are not made public by the council and are discussed in closed FNC sessions. The council’s federal budget is also discussed in private sessions, in contrast to how members discuss budgets of other ministries publicly. The overall sum of the FNC budget, however, is released. This year it was Dh187.8m, and next year it will increase by 4.56 per cent to Dh196.4m.
But as members of the public listed in the electoral list for October’s election start thinking about running for a seat on the council, they have been warned by members that the job comes with weighty duties.
As was revealed on Sunday, the number of eligible voters has increased by 66 per cent since 2011, with 224,279 Emiratis involved. Each of these people is also eligible to stand as candidates.
Aside from needing to leave other federal positions, or having to juggle two jobs, if they are already working in the local government or the private sector, each member is expected to attend regular sessions in the capital and committee meetings in Dubai.
FNC members are also held accountable as they are expected to voice people’s concerns to the government and need to be publicly available.
Some perks members can expect include five-star hotel stays in the capital on the night before FNC sessions, a private FNC aircraft to take them on periodic international conferences and meetings, and open buffets at the end of every FNC session.
In 2009, council members called for a salary increase, but it has yet to happen.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
