A three-year delay in the Cabinet’s response to Federal National Council requests is inexcusable, a minister said this week.
After protests from members who received late responses to 2010 recommendations on health issues made by a previous council, the issue was brought to the attention of Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for FNC Affairs and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
He said the issue had been discussed at the ministry following the FNC’s last session.
“This we are aware of and, to be honest, in the end I cannot give you an excuse to the delay,” he told the council.
He said it was a one-off occurrence and had not happened before.
“It is true the Cabinet’s agenda is busy, but it’s not an excuse,” he said.
He noted the members’ discussions on the matter and said he hoped the Government could deal with some of the delays.
He said that overall, cooperation between the Cabinet and the council was good, but these types of situations put relations at risk.
“Anyway we will raise a report to the Cabinet on this situation,” he said. “I believe the FNC can send a letter to the Ministry of FNC Affairs to ease things.”
He assured the council the delay had nothing to do with the sensitivity of the issue.
osalem@thenational.ae
