Qatar votes in referendum on scrapping legislative elections

Sheikh Tamim last year proposed ending poll for two thirds of Shura Council seats after election first held in 2021

Qatari citizens cast their ballots in the referendum at a polling station in Doha. AFP

Qatari citizens voted on Tuesday in a referendum on ending legislative elections that have filled two thirds of seats in the Shura Council, which drafts laws and approves state budgets.

Voters cast ballots to decide whether to pass constitutional changes that would scrap the elections. Results are expected on Wednesday. All Qatari employees in the country were granted permission to leave work to vote.

There was “an enthusiastic atmosphere and a historic moment, clearly confirming everyone’s keenness to make this national celebration a success”, Qatar's state news agency said. The referendum will “strengthen the social fabric in the most beautiful image and form, which honestly represents an important stage in the country’s victorious march and its national unity”, it added.

Qatar first introduced plans for legislative elections in its 2003 constitution, but authorities repeatedly postponed implementing the vote. The country finally held polls for two thirds of the Shura Council, which also advises the Emir, in October 2021.

But the elections caused tension as only some of the country's about 380,000 Qatari citizens were eligible to vote. Last October, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim called the polls an "experiment" and proposed constitutional changes to scrap them.

The Qatari establishment has appeared confident of the result of Tuesday's referendum, the first in more than 20 years.

The country has also held municipal council elections every four years since 1999.

Under the constitutional amendments, the Shura Council would again be wholly appointed by the Emir. The Shura proposes legislation, approves the budget and recalls ministers, but the Emir wields a veto.

Among other proposed changes on the ballot is a move to allow all Qataris, including naturalised citizens, to hold ministerial office, a right previously reserved for Qatari-born citizens.