Qatar’s first parliamentary elections were approved through a constitutional referendum in 2003, but were held in 2021 and sparked rare ethnic tensions
Qatar will make a rare move by holding a referendum on a series of constitutional amendments, including a proposal to end attempts to hold parliamentary elections, the Gulf state’s emir announced.
Qatar held the first elections in its history in 2021 to choose two-thirds of the members of the Shura Council.
The election sparked rare ethnic tensions in the country as some members of a key Bedouin tribe found themselves disenfranchised.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani today described the election as an “experiment”, which was scrutinized and led the government to propose the constitutional amendments.
“The Shura Council is not a representative parliament in a democratic system and its status and powers will not be affected whether its members are elected through parliamentary elections or appointed,” Sheikh Tamim said in his annual opening address. of the Council.
The Council, he said, would consider the amendments and put them to a referendum which, a Qatari official told Reuters, would have binding results. The Council has legislative power and approves the government’s general policy and budget, but has no say in matters relating to defence, security and economic and investment policy for the small but rich oil-producing state, which bans political parties. .
Qatar’s first parliamentary elections were approved through a constitutional referendum in 2003, but were held in 2021.
Members of the Al Mura tribe, one of the most numerous Bedouin tribes in the Gulf countries with roots in eastern Saudi Arabia, protested against the electoral law that bars Qataris whose family was not in Qatar before 1930 from they vote.
Sheikh Tamim announced today that Qatar has tried to avoid the tensions between families and clans caused by the electoral process.
Qatar’s emir also said today that Israel has deliberately chosen to expand its “aggressiveness” to implement already organized plans in the West Bank and Lebanon.
Israel did this “because it sees that there is room,” he said during his annual address at the start of the Shura Council.
Qatar, along with Egypt and the US, are trying to broker a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
Source :Skai
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