jQuery tabs : Why position:relative

jQuery tabs : Why position:relative


In IE if you have tabs in a Dialog box the tabs are not scrolling
properly.
Because by default tabs position is relative it may happen that some
component like drop down menu stay behind the tabs.
In the css we can find this:
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav li { position: relative; float: left; border-
bottom-width: 0px !important; margin: 0 .2em -1px 0; padding: 0; }
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav { list-style: none; position: relative;
padding: .2em .2em 0 !important; }
Is there a particular reason to use relative ?
May I set the position to static without generating drawbacks ?