The Hindu : Qatar takes a democratic leap

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2003

International

International

Qatar takes a democratic leap

DOHA (QATAR) APRIL 29. Qataris streamed to polling stations on Tuesday to vote on their first permanent constitution — a leap toward democratic rule in a country where the Emir has held absolute power.

Men wearing white robes and headdresses and women in black chadors that exposed only the eyes and hands entered schools and Government buildings through separate entrances to cast ballots in what is only the second occasion that Qataris have been consulted about their Government since independence from Britain in 1971.

Voting was brisker on the outskirts of Doha, the capital of the tiny state. Ali al-Khater, a businessman, said he had read the draft constitution several times and had voted `yes.'

"Every person hopes for a better future and this constitution is going to help us realise this future,' Mr. al-Khater said.

A young single woman in black robes, Jasna al-Mirri, indicated which way she was going to vote:

"This is a democratic leap forward that will elevate women's status." The constitution envisages a 45-member Parliament of which two-thirds will be elected and the remainder appointed by the Emir who also retains the power to appoint the Cabinet. However, legislators will have the right to question Cabinet Ministers, enact legislation and vote on the national budget. "The Qatari citizen has never before been consulted in the affairs of his country in such a civilized manner," the editor-in-chief of the independent Asharq newspaper, Abdel Latif Abdallah, said in an editorial on Monday.

If the constitution is approved, Government officials have said Parliamentary elections are likely to be held in 2004.

The Emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, urged people to vote in an address to the nation broadcast on television and radio on Monday.

"The development and security of the present and the future of this nation is the responsibility of all of us," he said.— AP

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