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10/16/24, 11:12 AM Ruler says Qataris to vote on abandoning elections | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT
The body does not have sway over matters of defence, 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 September 11, 2001 attacks and hopes for democracy

in the region rose after the 2011 Arab Spring.

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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 countries ended.

"We are all one family in Qatar," Sheikh Tamim said, according to a transcript
published by the state-run Qatar News Agency.

"The contest between candidates for membership in the Shura Council took

place within families and tribes, and there are different views regarding the

repercussions of such competition on our norms, traditions, as well as the

conventional social institutions and their cohesion."

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