A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is formed when group of mobile wireless nodes collaborate between them to communicate through wireless links in the absence of the fixed infrastructure and any centralized control. These characteristics make it able to adapt and operate in difficult conditions. It is vital to keep the topology stable as long as possible. An effective clustering scheme renders longer cluster lifetime and incurs low maintenance overhead. However, the mobility of nodes adversely affects the hierarchical structure. Therefore, electing nodes with small relative velocity with respect to it’s 1-hop downlink neighbors or cluster members, for the role of cluster head is a preferred option that makes the clusters more stable. In the proposed scheme FESC, we present a relatively stable clustering scheme by considering more powerful however less mobile (w.r.t. the cluster members) nodes as cluster heads. The cluster heads can themselves estimate the competency value of the cluster. If it is small enough, then it advises the nodes with other cluster options to join some better clusters so that they don’t arbitrarily join and leave available clusters. The simulation analysis confirms that our scheme delivers more stable clusters with low maintenance effort.