Qataris vote to end limited elections for parliamentary seats in the shadow of the US election

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar voted Tuesday to end its limited elections for parliamentary seats, adopting a measure to end the country's short-lived experiment Election of members of the Shura Advisory Council.

The vote came as the world's attention focused on the U.S. presidential election, and even Al Jazeera, Qatar's state-funded satellite news channel, gave brief acknowledgments of the vote between coverage of the U.S. election and the wars in the Middle East . Although Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, announced a vote last month, authorities only announced the date of the election on Sunday.

Qatar's Interior Ministry announced the results early Wednesday, saying 89% of voters supported the constitutional change in a yes-no vote, with 9.2% voting “no” and 1.8% of votes invalidated became. There was no immediate vote total in the autocratic nation.

Voting lasted 12 hours and ended at 7 p.m. local time. All Qatari employees in the country were also given permission to leave work from 11 a.m. to vote.

Qatar's state news agency described the vote as “an enthusiastic atmosphere and a historic moment that clearly confirms everyone's will to make this national celebration a success.”

The vote will “strengthen the social fabric in the most beautiful way and form, which frankly represents an important stage in the country's triumph and national unity,” the news agency added.

Qatar first set out plans for parliamentary elections in its 2003 constitution, but authorities have repeatedly postponed holding the vote. Finally, in October 2021, elections were held for two-thirds of the Shura Council, which drafts laws, approves state budgets and advises the ruler.

The elections came after the end of a boycott of Qatar by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that tore the Arab Gulf states apart. It also came about a year early Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cupan event that sparked intense scrutiny in the West over the country's treatment of foreign workers and its system of governance.

Qatar remains an important country for the West as it hosted and supported the Taliban the chaotic NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and as a mediator as the Israel-Hamas war rages in the Gaza Strip and has expanded into Lebanon.

But the elections caused problems in the energy-rich country. The electoral law distinguishes between natural-born and naturalized Qatari citizens and excludes the latter from voting. Human Rights Watch described the system as “discriminatory” and barred thousands of Qataris from running for office or voting. The disqualification sparked minor protests that led to several arrests.

Announcing the vote on amending the Constitution, Sheikh Tamim said: “The competition between candidates for membership in the Shura Council took place within families and tribes, and there are different views on the impact of such competition also on our norms and Traditions.” such as the conventional social institutions and their cohesion.”

“The competition is taking on an identity-based nature that we are not equipped to handle, and with potential complications over time that we would prefer to avoid,” he added.

The vote represents a further setback in the hereditary Arab Gulf states to halt moves to impose representative rule after the United States sought to push more for democratic reforms in the Middle East following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. As a result, hopes for democracy in the region also grew The Arab Spring 2011.

In May, The ruler of oil-rich Kuwait dissolved his country's parliament for up to four years. While Kuwait's parliament struggled, it represented the Gulf Arab state's most permissive legislature and was able to challenge the country's rulers.