Zayed’s ambition from Earth to space

ABU DHABI

The United Arab Emirates is celebrating two cherished and revered occasions, the latest elections for members of the Federal National Council (FNC), and the scientific achievement of the UAE’s first astronaut, Hazza Al Mansoori, who has just completed a visit to the International Space Station (ISS).
The term “progressive empowerment” can be applied to both of these events, offering evidence of political, scientific, economic and social progress.
Fourteen years ago, the country’s wise leadership launched a programme of political development based on the ‘Shura’ or consultation principle which was based on the introduction of elections to the FNC. This allows the UAE to implement its goal of sustainability through the implementation of a gradualistic approach
to the concept of popular empowerment.
The UAE’s wise leadership has enabled this democratic institution to fulfill its duties and responsibilities in sustaining the principle of empowerment and Shura as an approach established by the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
With the fourth round of the FNC elections, “progressive empowerment” has delivered on its promise of “sustainable progress” in line with the nature of UAE society, both through the election of FNC members and through the empowerment of women.
In Space, Al Mansoori, the first Emirati astronaut, along with two other astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksey Ovchinin, completed on October 3 his historic his eight-day scientific mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and has returned to Earth. His journey marks the successful completion of a key stage in the UAE Space Programme – an enormous achievement.