Qataris took to the polls on Tuesday, voting in favour of replacing Shura council elections with appointed seats.

Qatari citizens have voted overwhelmingly in favour of constitutional amendments in a referendum that saw a turnout of more than 80 percent.

At least 90.6 percent of valid votes approved replacing the nation’s Shura Council elections with appointed seats. Voters considered a total of 14 constitutional amendments in the referendum.

Following the announcement of the results, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani praised the referendum as upholding the country’s “values ​​of unity and justice”.

“Qataris celebrated today the fruits of what the forefathers planted … by participating in the general referendum on the draft constitutional amendments to the country’s permanent constitution,” Sheikh Tamim said on X.

In an address, Qatar’s Minister of Interior and Chairman of the General Referendum Committee, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, revealed that 84 percent of those eligible for the yes-no vote participated in the referendum.

“The general referendum was held on the draft constitutional amendments to the permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar, amid a great response from both male and female citizens,” Sheikh Khalifa said.

Qatar’s Ministry of Interior (MoI) also reported that 9.2 percent voted no and 1.8 percent of votes were declared invalid.

Under Decree No. 87 of 2024 by Sheikh Tamim, all citizens aged 18 and above were eligible to vote at any of the 28 designated polling stations, which were open from 7:00am until 7:00pm on Tuesday.

Qatar’s first-ever legislative elections were held in 2021, with a turnout of 63.5 percent, as Qatari nationals voted for 30 of the 45 members of the Shura Council.

However, the eligibility criteria, which limited voting rights to Qataris whose families had been in the country since before the 1930s, sparked tensions among various tribes.