His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi (Arabic: خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان, born 1948) is the current president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He succeeded to the post on 3 November 2004, replacing his father Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had died the day before. He had effectively been acting president earlier, since his father was in ill health. He is also the hereditary emir and ruler of Abu Dhabi.
Following the establishment of the UAE on 2 December 1971, Sheikh Khalifa became deputy prime minister of the federal state under his father, who was president. In May 1976 he became deputy commander of the UAE armed forces. He also heads the Supreme Petroleum Council, which enjoys wide powers in energy matters.
Sheikh Khalifa is known for his interest in sports traditional to UAE, chiefly horse and camel racing. A building in the theology department at Lampeter is named after him, due to his being a benefactor. He is generally regarded as a pro-Western modernizer. Early in his term, in April 2005, he authorized a 15-25% salary increase for employees of the state.
On 1 December 2005 the President announced that half of the members of the Federal National Council, the closest body the country has to a parliament, will be indirectly elected. However half of the council's members will still need to be appointed by the leaders of the emirates. The 40-member FNC serves in an advisory capacity. The elections have been set to take place in December 2006.
Philanthropy
Zayed Nahyan has an estimated wealth of 19 billion dollars according to Forbes. On April 30, 2007, Johns Hopkins Medicine announced a "magnificent" and "transformational" gift by Sheikh Khalifa, most of which, made in honor of Sheikh Khalifa’s father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was planned to support construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital’s new cardiovascular and critical care tower (also to be named after Sheikh Zayed). Additionally, some funds would be directed to cardiovascular as well as AIDS research. He also announced the funding of Sheikh Khalifa City in the Gaza Strip.
Criticism
A similar criticism, as that having directed by Sheikh Zayed's critics, is that charitable contributions by Sheikh Khalifa are not from his own wealth but that of his nation's, given the vast sums of the state's wealth accumulated by his father and his family. |
