The era of Sheikh Khalifa is characterized by steady, ongoing progress - both in social and economic terms. Founding President, Sheikh Zayed is known as the Father of the Nation for his role in forming the UAE. In the 10 years since his passing, his son, Sheikh Khalifa, has assumed the mantle with aplomb to guide the nation’s continuing extraordinary development.
Under the rules of the constitution, the Supreme Council, comprising the rulers of all seven Emirates, had 30 days to appoint a successor as President following the passing of Sheikh Zayed. Within 10 minutes, the rulers gathered on the day of Sheikh Zayed’s funeral and, in a unanimous vote, elected Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, now ruler of Abu Dhabi, as the second President of the United Arab Emirates. He was elected on November 3, 2004, although the formal announcement was not made until November 8.
In 2005, the first full year of Sheikh Khalifa’s Presidency, the Emirates Palace opened one of the world’s most luxurious hotels, that would become a fitting backdrop for everything from a state visit by President Bush to the new Abu Dhabi Film Festival and a 2008 concert by Christina Aguilera.
Shaikh Khalifa is renowned for being a good listener, modest, affable and interested in his people, frequently conducting direct outreach through official missions and other occasions. As a result he is much loved and revered.
He has taken a number of environmental initiatives, including breeding and release programmes for falcons and the Houbara Bustard in the Arabian Peninsula and Central Asian regions.
The UAE has been named the world's largest donor of development assistance in proportion to its gross national income for the fifth year running, according to the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development. All this took place under his rule.
The United Arab Emirates under Sheikh Khalifa has been stringent with laws that protect the rights of religious minorities. He issued new legislation aimed at combating intolerance on Monday, outlawing actions that stoke religious hatred and discriminate based on religious or ethnic background.
Sheikh Khalifa’s role as a world statesman was underlined last year, with a return state visit to the United Kingdom, with all the pomp and circumstance such occasions require. He has time and again proved himself as a man who would do anything to keep his promises to the people of the land and has initiated a number of reforms to make the UAE a safer and more holistically aware place.
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