While the eyes of the world are focused on the fateful elections in the USA, citizens of Qatar will also attend the polling stations today to vote on a referendum featuring a set of constitutional reforms, the most prominent of which is the cancellation of the country’s elections, purported 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 ballot, and the Emir shall appoint the other 15 members” will be changed to: “The Shura Council shall consist of no less than 45 members, and the appointment of the members shall be issued by an Emiri decree.”

The advisory Shura Council in Qatar essentially holds no power over the Emir and his elected government, but with the passing of the new reforms, even the faint representational enterprise offered thus far to Qatari citizens will be annulled. Additionally, in a country with a population of roughly 3 million, only about 310,000 (12%) are deemed citizens who enjoy voting rights.

This is not the first time that anti-democratic measures have been taken in Qatar. In 2021, the Qatari regime passed a controversial election law that effectively denied the right of the entire Aal Murrah clan to run in the elections, sparking a short-lived and very rare wave of protest from members of the clan, which in turn led to the arrest of seven clan activists and oppression of the movement.

Doha, Qatar. (credit: COURTESY)
Doha, Qatar. (credit: COURTESY)

‘Elections are the opposite of social cohesion’

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

“The Qataris are interested in maintaining their uniqueness in the Gulf, and are also keen on marketing themselves to the West in a positive light,” explained Admoni. “So for instance, 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,’ hinting criticism at other countries in their vicinity.”

On the issue of the current referendum, Admoni explained: “Many of the apologists who spoke in support of the current motion in Qatar justified the canceling of the elections by bringing up the pretext of ‘social cohesiveness,’ which in turn means arguing that elections are the opposite of that, especially in view of the results of the last elections.”

Admoni reminds us that the last elections to the advisory Shura Council, which lacks any substantial powers, were 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 allocated seats to have women serve on the council. This conservative trend was the main reason for the postponing of the elections to 2021, even though the Emir was looking to hold them even before that.”

According to Admoni, Qatar is seeking to market these constitutional reforms as democratic in and of themselves. “They turned it into a festive day, with extensive media covering of officials going to vote, offering a day off from work in some cases, shortening the school day, interviewing many citizens who speak in favor of the Emir’s plan, and even regarding it as a historical day in which ‘Qatar will elect its future.’ In a classical Qatari fashion, they are paving a non-democratic path and marketing it as the epitome of democracy.”