DUBAI // Emiratis hoping to be elected to the Federal National Council later this year would find their salaries on-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 members of parliament in Bahrain, who earn Dh46,262 a month.
In Qatar, members of the shura council earn Dh42,366, while Kuwaiti MPs earn less, at Dh26,594. UK politicians get Dh31,580 a month but American senators or congresspeople earn more than most at Dh53,260 a month.
FNC member for Umm Al Quwain Ali Jassim exclusively revealed to The National what members earned, dismissing rumours of a Dh1m monthly wage as untrue.
An overall deduction of Dh2,000 is made for pensions from each of the members’ Dh50,000 wage.
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 susceptible to litigation or prosecution by local authorities. Historically, this has been to allow members to preform duties freely.
The diplomatic immunity also includes an exemption from traffic fines, as members can be summoned to court if they are absent, but hey are subject to prosecution for crimes they are caught in the act of committing.
Diplomatic immunity is not removed from members except by orders from the Minister of Justice and with a majority rule from the FNC.
The Speaker of the FNC, currently a position occupied by Mohammed Al Murr (Dubai), receives a monthly salary equivalent to that of a Federal Minister, the sum of which remains disclosed.
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 surfacing that requested his fines be removed by Dubai Police.
Member 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, contrary to how members discuss budgets of other ministries publicly. The overall sum of the FNC budget, however, is released. This year it stood at Dh187.8m and next year it will increase by 4.56 per cent to Dh196.4m.
But as members of the public listed on the electorate 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 a total of 224,279 Emiratis nationwide involved. Each of these people are also eligible to stand as candidates.
Aside from the requirements of needing to leave other federal positions or having to juggle between two jobs, if they are already working in the local government or private sector, each FNC member is expected to attend regular sessions in the capital and committee meetings in Dubai.
Members are also held accountable as they are expected to voice people’s concerns publicly to the government and need to be publicly available.
However, some perks members can expect include five-star hotel stays in the capital the night before FNC sessions, a private FNC plane 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 is yet to happen.
newsdesk@thenational.ae