UAE Formally Elects Sheikh Mohamed President after Sheikh Khalifa’s Death

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) formally elected a new president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Saturday after the nation’s president for the past 18 years, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, died on Friday, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

A federal council of the UAE unanimously named Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also known as “MBZ,” as the federation’s president on May 14. The UAE Federal Supreme Council comprises the rulers of the UAE’s seven emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah).

#UAEPresident accepts more condolences from world leaders, delegations on passing of #SheikhKhalifa #WamNews pic.twitter.com/A2vy6wmhx6

— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) May 16, 2022

MBZ on Saturday succeeded late UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan after he died on Friday, May 13, following a nearly two-decade-long rule as president of the UAE from 2004 to 2022. Mohamed, 61, is the half-brother of the late Khalifa, 73. Observers had considered Mohamed the UAE’s de facto ruler since 2014 when Khalifa suffered a stroke and subsequently retreated from public life. Mohamed oversaw major government decisions on behalf of the UAE over the past eight years while Khalifa remained in a largely ceremonial role as UAE president.

Heads of state from around the world — including Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II — offered their condolences to the UAE on the passing of Khalifa and their congratulations on the presidential election of Mohamed over the weekend. A number of world leaders arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday, May 16, to communicate their messages to Mohamed in person, including a high-ranking delegation representing the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

MBZ previously served as the UAE’s deputy supreme commander of armed forces and is credited with transforming the federation’s military “into one of the most effective in the Arab world, according to experts who say he instituted military service to instil nationalism rather than entitlement among an affluent population,” Reuters noted on May 14.

The news agency recalled that Sheikh Mohamed enjoyed “warm ties” with the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021.

“[T]he two Gulf hawks lobbied for Washington’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran, boycotted neighbouring Qatar for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, and launched a costly war to try to break the grip of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis,” Reuters observed of Sheikh Mohamed’s U.S.-supported foreign policy actions in recent years.

“The UAE also waded into conflicts from Somalia to Libya and Sudan before upending decades of Arab consensus by forging ties with Israel in 2020, along with Bahrain, in US-brokered deals known as the Abraham Accords that drew Palestinian ire,” the news agency further noted of the UAE under Sheikh Mohamed’s unofficial rule.