UAE lawmakers decide not to ban FNC member who criticised speaker

Abu Dhabi: Many Federal National Council (FNC) members on Tuesday rejected the criticisms leveled against Speaker Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair.

During the last session, Dr Sultan Al Moadhin, a FNC member, accused the speaker of splitting the legislature and favouring some members at the expense of others.

Rejecting the charges, some members suggested barring Al Moadhin from FNC sessions. However, some other member stepped in and said such a move would hamper freedom of expression and role of the legislature.

The FNC voted to drop demands to bar Al Moadhin from attending FNC session for criticising the FNC Speaker.

Media draft law

On the other hand, the FNC is all set to review the new media draft law that seeks to scrap jail terms for journalists and instead imposes up to Dh1 million fine for breaking the law.

The federal draft law on media activities, which regulates licensing of newspapers and printing presses, also scraps prior censorship of any media outlet in the country. The draft law states that the owners of all newspapers and their editors-in-chief must be Emiratis who do not have crime records.

The draft law requires the Cabinet's approval and the President's signature before it is enacted into law.