Qataris yesterday began voting in the Gulf state’s first legislative elections for two-thirds of the advisory Shura Council in a vote that has stirred domestic debate about electoral inclusion and citizenship.
Voters began trickling into polling stations, where men and women entered separate sections, to elect 30 members of the 45-seat body. The ruling emir would continue to appoint the remaining 15 members.
“With the chance to vote, I feel this is a new chapter,” said Munira, a children’s book author who asked to be identified by only one name. “I’m really happy of the number of women standing as candidates.”
Photo: Reuters
The Council would have legislative authority, and approve general state policies and the budget, but would have no control over executive bodies setting defense, security, economic and investment policies for the small, but wealthy gas producer, which bans political parties.
Eighteen women are among the 183 candidates hoping to be elected at stations across 30 districts in the country, which has for several years held municipal polls.
Campaigning has taken place on social media, community meetings and roadside billboards.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“This is a first-time experience for me ... to be here and meet people talking about these things that we need,” said Khalid Almutawah, a candidate in the Markhiya District. “In the end we want to promote our society, and we try our best to help our people and our government.”
The election indicates that Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family is “taking seriously the idea of symbolically sharing power, but also effectively sharing power institutionally with other Qatari tribal groups,” Georgia State University’s Middle East Studies Center director Allen Fromherz said.
The election, approved in a 2003 constitutional referendum, comes ahead of Doha hosting the soccer World Cup next year.
However, critics have said that voting eligibility is too narrow.
Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani last month described the vote as a new “experiment,” saying that the council cannot be expected from the first year to have the “full role of any parliament.”
Kuwait has been the only Gulf monarchy to give substantial powers to an elected parliament, although ultimate decisionmaking rests with the country’s emir, as in neighboring states.
The huge number of foreign workers in Qatar, the world’s top liquefied natural gas producer, means that nationals make up only 10 percent of the population of 2.8 million.
However, even then not all Qataris are eligible to vote.
The polls have stirred tribal sensitivities after some members of a main tribe found themselves ineligible to vote under a law restricting voting to Qataris whose family was present in the country before 1930.
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said that there is a “clear process” for the electoral law to be reviewed by the next Shura Council.
Human Rights Watch has said that thousands of Qataris are excluded.
The organization said that Qatar arrested about 15 demonstrators at a protest led by Al Murra tribe members in August, as well as critics of the voting law.
A Qatari source with knowledge of the matter on Friday said that two critics remained in custody “for inciting violence and hate speech.”
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS