Constitution of the United Arab Emirates Union and for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, to be the President of the United Arab Emirates. In 1979, a draft "permanent" constitution was prepared which allowed for the creation of a unified military and judicial system. Initially, the emirate of Dubai was strongly opposed to the unification of the military forces and, along with Ras al Khaimah, refused to attend Supreme Council meetings of the union. Mediations by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as well as by other UAE rulers reduced differences between Shiekh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Zayed
Emirate of Sharjah while Abdulaziz would become the Deputy Ruler. Sultan, however, dismissed Abdulaziz quite quickly. In 1999, the Crown Prince (Sultan's eldest son) died while on vacation in their palace in England. Sultan made the decision to testify in front of a UK court. The new Crown Prince was appointed from a remote branch of the family. Sharjah is the third largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates, and is the only one to have land on both the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The emirate covers which is equivalent to 3.3 per cent of the UAE's total area, excluding