Qataris vote in favour of ending Shura Council elections

Referendum shows overwhelming support for ending ballot for the 45-member advisory

Qatari cast their ballots at a polling station in Doha in a general referendum on constitutional amendments, including scrapping Shura Council elections. AFP

Voters in Qatar approved major proposed changes to its constitution in a referendum on Tuesday, including the scrapping of elections for the advisory Shura Council.

Doha approved the changes after 90.6 per cent of votes were cast in favour of the amendments, the state-run Qatar News Agency cited the interior minister as saying.

Besides ending elections to the Shura Council, which drafts laws, approves state budgets and advises the country's Emir, the constitutional changes will allow all Qatari citizens to hold ministerial positions, previously reserved for Qatar-born citizens. The move comes three years after Qatar held its first election to choose two-thirds of the 45-member council, which was first proposed in 2003 but was repeatedly postponed.

“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,” Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said on X after the results.

Sheikh Tamim, who announced plans to hold the referendum last month, said the changes will “protect and preserve” values of “unity and justice”. Last October, he called the legislative elections an "experiment" and proposed constitutional changes to scrap them.

An official holiday has been declared on Wednesday and Thursday to mark the referendum results.

On Tuesday, state media said a “historic turnout” was expected for the vote, describing the amendments as an important milestone and “widely welcomed” by the population. It was the first referendum to be held in Qatar for more than 20 years.

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