Qatari voters gathered at a polling station in Doha to participate in a general referendum on constitutional amendments, which included the proposal to discontinue legislative council elections, on November 5, 2024. — AFP
On Tuesday, Qataris cast their votes in a referendum aimed at ending a short-lived and restricted experiment with legislative elections within the affluent monarchy. Voters from the gas-rich peninsula's approximately 380,000 Qatari nationals decided on constitutional changes that would eliminate the legislative council polls. In 2021, a year before Qatar hosted the football World Cup under significant international scrutiny, the Gulf state conducted its first elections for 30 out of 45 seats in the Shura Council, an advisory body with limited authority. However, these elections caused division as only specific Qataris were permitted to vote. Last October, Qatar's emir referred to them as an 'experiment' and suggested the constitutional changes.
The Qatari establishment seemed confident about the outcome of Tuesday's referendum, the first in over 20 years, which coincided with the US presidential elections on the same day. 'I believe it will not be a majority vote, but it may even reach a unanimous vote on a constitutional amendment,' said Saud bin Khalid Al Thani, a prominent member of the ruling family, to journalists before voting. 'Every country may have its own style that suits it, its personality, and its citizens. We are a country, praise be to God, united with our leadership, united with our government,' he added.
Qatar has also conducted municipal council elections every four years since 1999. Under the proposed amendments, the Shura Council would once again be entirely appointed by the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who maintains a firm hold on power. The Shura Council can propose legislation, approve the budget, and recall ministers, but the Amir holds veto power.
At an election center near Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in suburban Doha, hundreds of male voters, dressed in meticulously pressed white thobes, Qatar's national attire, arrived to vote in the first hours after polls opened. Golf carts transported some voters to and from their cars, while VIPs were dropped off in SUVs and Lamborghinis. An adjacent hall for female voters saw less attendance.
The 2021 polls caused division as only descendants of Qataris who were citizens in 1930 were eligible to vote and run, with constituencies mapped out along tribal lines. Some members of the sizable Al Murrah tribe were among those excluded from the electoral process, leading to intense online debates and sporadic protests at the time. Among the changes on the current ballot is a move to allow all Qataris, including naturalized citizens, to hold ministerial office, a right previously reserved for Qatari-born nationals.
Danyel Reiche, a Qatar-based politics expert, told AFP that during the 2021 poll 'some Qataris were not eligible to vote and had been upset or angry'. 'Sometimes in the same families some people could vote, others not,' said the academic, who works at Georgetown University Qatar. 'By not holding elections and revising specifications of the citizenship law this conflict is avoided.'
The gas-rich emirate's constitution—its first since independence from Britain in 1971—came into effect in 2005, introducing democratic reforms that led to the 2021 elections. Baraa Shiban, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, said in the early 2000s Qatar had been 'more committed towards more representation', describing the moves in the current referendum as a 'rollback'. However, he added, 'having dissatisfaction in a small country like Qatar is big'. The UK-based expert explained there had been a 'silent discussion' in the Middle East in the 2000s over 'stability versus democracy', which peaked during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. 'Those two narratives have been battling for more than a decade...right now, the narrative of having more stability is winning but I think this discussion will continue,' Shiban added.
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