Qataris to Elect 29 Members for Central Municipal Council

Doha, May 10 (QNA) - Qataris headed to election centers Tuesday morning for the fourth time to elect the 29 members of the Central Municipal Council amid from 101 candidates have signed up, among them are four women.
Some 32,662 voters are registered to cast their ballots on Tuesday. Voters cast their ballots in their constituency and should produce their registration card and their personal ID card, the committee said. If the voter cannot select a candidate, he or she will be assisted by the election committee head.
Municipal elections were held in Qatar on 1 April 2007 for the third time. Three women and 122 men ran for 29 seats in the Central Municipal Council. About 28,000 citizens of the 174,000 Qataris were able to vote, and overall turnout was 51.1 per cent. One of the three female candidates, Shaikha Al Jufairi, was elected with the highest amount of votes of all 125 candidates.
The first municipal council in Qatar was formed in the early 1950s and it was reorganized in 1956. Doha municipality came into being in May 1963. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs was established in 1972 as a government body responsible for supervising the functions of municipalities.
Decree No. (4) for 1963 organized, for the first time, the election and appointment of the members of the municipal council. Law No. (11) for 1963 followed. It stipulated that the municipal council is formed by a decree and that the appointment of the members is based on the nomination of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture. The first joint meeting of municipal councils in the country was held in 1983. Most of the credit goes to this meeting in deciding to form a central municipal council to replace the numerous municipal councils.
The idea to form the municipal council by direct elections was revived when HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani issued the Law No. (12) for 1998 organizing the election law of the Central Municipal Council. HH also issued the Emiri Decree No. (17) for 1998 on the election of the members of the Central Municipal Council. Several committees were subsequently formed. They included the legal, security, and information, technical, supply, and follow up committees. A preparatory committee was also formed under the patronage of HH the wife of HH the Emir to carry out an awareness program for women, emphasizing the importance of their participation in the elections both as candidates and voters.
The Qatari democratic practice exceeded the surrounding experiences in four aspects: voting age was brought down to 18, which expands the scope of participation in the democratic process, the Qatari media was utilized in an unprecedented manner in the Gulf region by giving live coverage of the debates and discussions between candidates and voters, women were allowed to participate as voters and candidates for the first time and a headquarters was provided in each constituency, where the 29 members of the Council can hold discussions and meetings with their electorates. (QNA)