Qatar votes in referendum on the annulment of legislative elections

Qatari votes in an early ballot to resolve whether or not to finish his restricted voting for legislative seats in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. | Picture credit score: AP

A referendum in Qatar to rule out short-term legislative elections handed with greater than 90% of the vote, officers stated on Wednesday (Nov 6, 2024), ending a flirtation with democracy within the Gulf monarchy.

The vote accepted a collection of constitutional amendments with 90.6% of legitimate votes solid by Qatari residents, the Inside Ministry stated.

“By taking part within the referendum and voting in favor of the constitutional amendments, Qataris have celebrated… the values ​​of unity and justice,” Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani posted on X.

Eighty-four p.c of eligible voters among the many roughly 380,000 Qataris – a minority on the gas-rich peninsula – participated in Tuesday’s referendum, in response to an Inside Ministry assertion.

The important thing proposal was to finish elections for 30 of the 45 seats on the Shura Council, an advisory physique with restricted powers, which befell for the primary and solely time in 2021.

The elections, a 12 months earlier than Qatar hosted the soccer World Cup below intense worldwide scrutiny, had stoked division, as solely descendants of Qataris who have been residents in 1930 have been eligible to vote and run, and electoral districts have been drawn in response to tribal strains.

Some members of the distinguished Al-Murrah tribe have been amongst these excluded from the electoral course of, sparking fierce on-line debate and sporadic protests on the time.

Amongst different modifications accepted in Tuesday’s referendum was a measure to permit all Qataris, together with naturalized residents, to carry ministerial positions, a proper beforehand reserved for Qatari-born nationals.

Sheikh Tamim will now resume appointing all members of the Shura Council, which might suggest legal guidelines, approve the price range and dismiss ministers, topic to the emir’s veto.

Along with one-off legislative elections, Qatar has additionally held municipal elections each 4 years since 1999.