Qatar to form committees to manage historic Shura elections

Qatar’s Shura Council will hold its first-ever elections in October this year, which is seen as a key step towards democracy in the country.

Qatari authorities are set to form a Supervisory Committee and multiple other executive committees dedicated to dealing with the Shura Council elections, the Ministry of Interior [MOI] announced on Sunday.

The decision was made by Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani and will see the Supervisory Committee take charge of the preparation of the elections while overseeing the proper conduct of the electoral process.

The supervisory group will work closely with the executive committees, all of which will be separated into legal, security, technical, media, and logistical bodies.

“Based on the directives of HE the Minister of Interior, the Supervisory Committee, as soon as the decision to form it was issued, started its tasks intensively to discuss the required work plans according to the terms of reference and tasks of its executive committees”, said Maj. Gen. Majed Ibrahim Al-Khulaifi, head of the Supervisory Committee of the Shura Council elections.

Brig. Salem Saqr Al Meraikhi, Director of Legal Affairs Department at the Ministry, will also be the vice-chairman of the Supervisory Committee.

According to the MOI, the executive committees have already started working on the planning process ahead of the elections.

The Shura Council elections are scheduled to take place in October this year and will be the country’s first. Analysts believe this will propel political participation among the public in Qatar.

Read also: Qatar’s Shura Council elections an ‘expansion of civil society’: analyst

Following the elections, the Shura Council’s authority is expected to expand and may include the ability to dismiss ministers, approve the national budget and propose legislation.

“The stages of the electoral process begin with voter’s registration, publishing the initial list, acceptance of grievance and adjudication, and publishing the final list of voters,” added the MOI.

“Then starts registration of candidates and announcing their initial lists followed by grievances and adjudication and announcement of the final lists of the candidates,” it noted.

The election campaign will later take place following the announcement of the names of the candidates. Voting will take place for the duration of one day.

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