Amal al-Qubaisi became the first woman to be elected as speaker for UAE’s Federal National Council (FNC).

The UAE’s vice president – who is also the prime minister and ruler of Dubai – hailed Amal al-Qubaisi on Wednesday for being the first woman in the Arab world to be elected as speaker for its national advisory on his Twitter account.

In early October, around 79,000 Emirati voters elected 20 representatives of the 40-member government advisory body the Federal National Council (FNC). The other half of the council is selected by the authorities of each of the seven Emirates. There are eight other women who sit on the 40-member council, which is headquartered in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

“I am honored to be the first woman elected to be speaker of the FNC,” Qubaisi, who is an architect and professor at UAE University, was quoted as saying by the local newspaper Gulf News.

She added: “This is a testament of the country’s support of its people to achieve political ability.”

This is not the first time Qubaisi, who won the backing of her peers, sets a new record for women in the UAE.

In 2006, Qubaisi was the first woman to be elected in FNC and first female to chair one of its meetings. She was also appointed as the first female member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi last year.

Related articles across the web

• UAE- Twelve candidates withdraw from FNC election
• Famed Egyptian satirist Ali Salem, shunned at home after Israel visit, dies of illness at 79
• Teaching Math in the Middle Ages
• Germany: Saudi Offer to Build 200 Mosques 'Cynical'
• Al-Jazeera expected to cut hundreds of jobs
• US ambassador in Lebanon makes a speech in praise of the most hated and most mocked man in Lebanon these days
• TechWadi & Google for Entrepreneurs' MENA Roadshow - Join Now!
• Does Japan need to be involved in the Middle East?
• Arab nations doing next to nothing for Syria’s refugees.