Qatar - Election 2021
Qatar's first legislative polls for two-thirds of the advisory Shura Council will be held on October 2, according to a decree issued by the ruling emir on 22 August 2021 and published by his office. Qatar, which already has municipal elections, has yet to publish the electoral system law for the Shura Council. Like other Gulf Arab states, Qatar has banned political parties. The elections will be for two-thirds, or 30 members, of the 45-seat advisory Shura Council. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will appoint 15 members, rather than the entire council as he does today.
Qatar set up a committee to oversee its first legislative elections, due to be held in October, its interior ministry said on 11 July 2021. Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, who also serves as interior minister, ordered the establishment of a supervisory committee which will be headed by interior ministry officials, the ministry said. Sheikh Khalid last month said that a draft electoral law approved by the cabinet in May would put limits on campaign spending and criminalise foreign funding and vote-buying. He said the small but wealthy country, the world’s top liquefied natural gas supplier which will host the 2022 Football World Cup, had been divided into 30 electoral districts.
Sheikh Khalid had also said that there was no pressure from Qatari citizens to hold the Shura elections. He said it was rather the belief of Qatar’s emir in moving forward “towards strengthening the role of the Shura Council in developing the legislative process and expanding national participation,” he told Qatari media last month.
During the past few months, Qatar had worked on developing constitutional procedures and legislative tools, including the electoral law. The developments come after Sheikh Tamim ordered in November 2020 the formation of a committee to organise the vote, after a delay of several years. Qataris account for approximately 10 percent of the roughly 2.7 million population, most of whom are foreign workers.
Kuwait is the only Gulf monarchy to give substantial powers to an elected parliament, which can block laws and question ministers, though ultimate decision-making rests with the ruler. Bahrain and Oman have elections for one house of their bicameral parliaments, which have limited influence. Saudi Arabia’s advisory body is appointed. In the United Arab Emirates, the government approves which citizens are allowed to vote for half the advisory council’s members.
The Council will have legislative authority and approve general state policies and the budget. It will also exercise control over the executive, except for bodies setting defence, security, economic and investment policy.
The October polls sparked some debate on electoral inclusion after some members of a tribe found themselves ineligible to vote under a law restricting voting to Qataris whose family was present in Qatar before 1930. The electoral law, based on a constitution approved in a 2003 referendum, could be reviewed by a new Shura Council.
Qataris began voting in their country’s first ever legislative polls 02 October 2021, with 30 of 45 seats in a previously appointed, largely advisory council up for election. Analysts said the polls will not lead to power shifting from the ruling family and are a largely symbolic nod to democracy. The candidates are mostly men, with just 28 women among the 284 hopefuls running for the 30 available council seats. The remaining 15 seats will be appointed by the all-powerful Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Qataris number about 333,000, but only descendants of those who were citizens in 1930 are eligible to vote and stand, disqualifying members of families naturalized since then.
Turnout for the election of 30 members of the 45-seat body was 63.5 percent. Results showed none of the women who were part of the polls was elected, disappointing candidates who had wanted to lend a voice for women and other Qataris in the country’s political process.
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