Qatar will vote to cancel the election “in the name of democracy and social

While the eyes of the world are focused on the fateful US election, citizens of Qatar He will also attend polling stations today to vote on a referendum on a set 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 Qatar’s Constitution, which currently states “The Shura Council (elected advisory council) will consist of 45 members, 30 of whom will be elected by direct secret general vote and the Emir will appoint the other. 15 members” shall be changed to: “The Shura Council shall consist of not less than 45 members and the appointment of members shall be issued by an Emiri decree.”

Qatar’s advisory Shura Council has essentially no power over the Emir and his elected government, but with the adoption of the new reforms, even the meager representative enterprise afforded to Qatari citizens will be nullified. Furthermore, in a country with a population of about 3 million, only about 310,000 (12%) are considered eligible citizens.

This 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, triggering a short-lived and rare wave of protest by clan members, which in turn led to to the arrest of seven clan activists and the suppression of the movement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar October 24, 2024. (Credit: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool)

“Elections are the opposite of social cohesion”

Ariel Admoni, Qatar researcher and PhD student at Bar-Ilan Universitytalked to The Jerusalem Post about these events from 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. “For example, when the emir’s father abdicated and was replaced by his son in 2013, the official marketing strategy claimed that ‘in Qatar we abdicate voluntarily’, suggesting criticism of other countries in their neighborhood “.

On the issue of the current referendum, Admoni explained: “Many of the apologists who have spoken in support of the current motion in Qatar have justified the cancellation of the election by bringing up the pretext of ‘social cohesion’, which in turn means arguing that the election is the opposite , especially considering the results of the last elections.”

Admoni reminds us that the last elections for the Shura Advisory Council, which has no substantial powers, were held in 2021. “Those who were elected were seen as very conservative and no women were elected by popular vote, and the emir. he had to use his allotted seats to have women serve on the council. This conservative trend was the main reason for postponing the elections until 2021, even though the Emir was looking to hold them even before then.”

According to Admoni, Qatar is trying to market these constitutional reforms as democratic in their own right. “They turned it into a festive day with extensive media coverage of officials going to the polls, offering a day off work in some cases, shortening the school day, interviewing many citizens who speak in favor of the Emir’s plan and even to this one. as a historic day when “Qatar will choose its future”. In classic Qatari fashion, they are paving a non-democratic path and marketing it as a symbol of democracy.”