The president of the United Arab Emirates said that next month's limited elections were a first step towards giving his people a say in running the country but that democratic reforms would not be rushed.
In an interview published on Monday in London-based Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan said no timetable had been set for wider democratisation.
"Change, when it is core and structural and linked to the fate of a nation and the future of a state, cannot bear rushing or skipping stages but must be well-studied, gradual and in tune with the nature of the society," he said.
"This is not an interim stage that is controlled by a time period but a foundational stage that will develop gradually."
In a step towards political reform, the UAE will hold in December the first elections to its consultative National Council since the state's foundation in 1971.
But only half of the council seats will be open to election -- the rest will be appointed -- and only a few thousand Emiratis will be eligible to vote.
There is scant political dissent in relatively liberal UAE, but it is the only country without elected bodies in the conservative Gulf region after Saudi Arabia held municipal elections last year.
The 40 members of the consultative council have so far been appointed by the seven semi-autonomous emirates that make up the UAE, but Sheikh Khalifa announced a year ago that polls would be introduced.
"One of our main objectives for the coming stage is to make the necessary preparations for more citizen participation ... since nations are built on the ideas and efforts of all of their children," Sheikh Khalifa said.