Qatar will vote to cancel elections ‘in the name of democracy and society’

On By Littum

While the eyes of the world are on the ill-fated election in the United States, citizens of Qatar will also take to the polls today to vote on a referendum on a series of constitutional reforms, the most prominent of which is the cancellation of the country’s elections, claimed by the Emir himself.

According to the new proposal, Article 77 of the Qatari constitution, which currently reads “The Shura Council (elected advisory council) shall consist of 45 members, 30 of whom shall be elected by direct secret general vote and the Emir shall appoint the other. 15 members” be changed to: “The Shura Council shall consist of not less than 45 members and the appointment of the members shall be issued by an Emiri decree.”

The consultative Shura Council of Qatar has virtually no power over the emir and his elected government, but with the adoption of the new reforms, even the weak representation offered to Qatari citizens will be nullified. Additionally, in a country with a population of about 3 million, only about 310,000 (12%) are considered citizens who enjoy voting rights.

It is not the first time that anti-democratic measures have been taken in Qatar. In 2021, the Qatari regime passed a controversial electoral law that effectively denied the entire Aal Murrah clan the right to stand for election, sparking a short-lived and very rare wave of protests by members of the clan, which in turn led to the arrest of seven clan activists and the suppression of the movement.

Doha, Qatar. (credit: WITH MARKS)

“Choice is the opposite of social cohesion”

Ariel Admoni, Qatar researcher and PhD candidate at Bar-Ilan University, spoke Jerusalem Post about these events in the small Gulf nation.

“The Qataris are interested in maintaining their uniqueness in the Gulf and are also keen to market themselves to the West in a positive light,” Admoni explained. “So for example, when the emir’s father abdicated from power and was replaced by his son in 2013, the official marketing strategy maintained that ‘in Qatar we abdicate our power voluntarily’, implying criticism of other countries in their vicinity.”

Regarding the issue of the current referendum, Admoni explained: “Many of the apologists who spoke in support of the current proposal in Qatar justified the cancellation of the election by taking up the pretext of ‘social cohesion’, which in turn means arguing for , that the election is the opposite of that, especially in light of the results of the last election.”

Admoni reminds us that the last election for the consultative Shura Council, which lacks significant powers, was held in 2021. “Those who were elected were seen as very conservative, and no women were elected at all in the popular vote, and the Emir had to use his allotted seats to have women serve on the council. This conservative trend was the main reason for postponing the elections to 2021, although the Emir sought to hold them even before that.”

According to Admoni, Qatar seeks to market these constitutional reforms as democratic in their own right. “They made it a celebratory day, with extensive media coverage of officials who would vote, offered a day off from work in some cases, shortened the school day, interviewed many citizens who speak in favor of the emir’s plan, and even regarding it as a historic day , where ‘Qatar will choose its future’. In classic Qatari fashion, they are paving a non-democratic path and marketing it as the epitome of democracy.”