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10/16/24, 11:11 AM Qatar's ruler says his nation will vote on abandoning legislative elections after just one poll - ABC News
Qatar's ruler says his nation will vote on abandoning legislative elections after just one poll

Qatar’s ruling emir says his small, energy-rich nation will hold a referendum on ending a short-lived
experiment in electing members of the country’s advisory Shura Council
By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

October 15, 2024, 6:52 PM

1:08

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Qatar's ruling emir said Tuesday his small, energy-rich nation will hold a
referendum on ending a short-lived experiment in electing members of the country's advisory Shura Council.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani offered no immediate timeline for the referendum in an annual address to the
Shura Council, which drafts laws, approves state budgets, debates major issues and provides advice to the ruler.
The body does not have sway over matters of defense, security and the economy.

However, it marks yet another rollback in the hereditarily ruled Gulf Arab states in its halting steps to embrace
representational rule, however tentative, following efforts by the United States to push harder for democratic
reforms in the Middle East after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and hopes for democracy in the region rose in the
wake of the 2011 Arab Spring.

From its perspective, Qatar saw the one-time 2021 vote likely as increasing tensions between tribes and families
in the country just months after a diplomatic crisis between Doha and four Arab nations ended.

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