Consultative Assembly of Qatar

The Consultative Assembly (Arabic: مجلس الشورى القطري‎, romanized: Majlis as-Shura) is the legislative body of the State of Qatar, with 45 members. Following the first Qatari legislative election, it will have 30 elected members and 15 appointed members.[1][2]

Consultative Assembly of Qatar مجلس الشورى القطري
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Chairman	Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud since 14 November 2017
Seats	45 members
Meeting place
Doha
Website
https://www.shura.qa

Constitutional role

The Council was formed in April 1972 with 20 appointed members.[3] In May 1972, the first consultative assembly meeting was held, during which Sayed Aziz bin Khalid Al Ghanim was elected as the assembly's first chairman. Aside from the 20 members who took part in the meeting, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani and foreign dignitaries were also in attendance.[4]

Qatar's constitution, approved in April 2003 by popular referendum, has created a legislative body to be two thirds elected by universal suffrage, and one third appointed by the Emir. According to the constitution, the legislature will have three powers: to approve (but not prepare) the national budget; to monitor the performance of ministers through no-confidence votes; and to draft, discuss, and vote on proposed legislation, which becomes law only with the vote of a two-thirds majority and the Emir's endorsement.

Members

The current Chairman of the Consultative Assembly is Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmud.

 Composition of the Consultative Assembly of Qatar

Members	Seats
Appointed members	45
Total	45

Chairmen

Name	Entered office	Left office	Notes
Abdul Aziz Bin Khalid Al-Ghanim	1 May 1972	8 December 1990	[5]
Ali bin Khalifa Al Hitmi	8 December 1990	27 March 1995	[5]
Mohamed Bin Mubarak Al-Khulaifi	27 March 1995	14 November 2017	[5]
Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud	14 November 2017	Present	[6][7]

History

In 2006 it was announced that legislative elections would take place in 2007; according to a 1 April statement by then-First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, who later became Prime Minister of Qatar. That was postponed and an advisory committee was established to study the issue. The legislative council rescheduled the elections for June 2010.[8] The election did not take place in 2010.

In November 2011, the Emir announced that the election would take place in 2013.[1][2]

In November 2017, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani appointed four women to the 45-member council, marking the first time women have taken part in the council.[9]

However, now no elections will be held until 2019.[10]

See also

• Politics of Qatar
• List of legislatures by country

References

1. "Qatar elections to be held in 2013 - Emir". BBC News. 2011-11-01. Archived from the original on 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
2. Agarwal, Hina (2011-11-09). "Qatar to hold elections in 2013". Arabian Gazette. Archived from the original on 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
3. https://www.shura.qa/Pages/About%20Council/History
4. "The era of reform". New York: Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nation. 1973. p. 7.
5. "Previous Speakers And Members". Shura of Qatar. 12 January 2019.
6. https://www.shura.qa/en/Pages/About-Council/President-and-Members/Members/HE-Mr-Ahmad-Bin-Abdulla-Bin-Zaid-AL-Mahmoud
7. http://archive.ipu.org/parline/reports/2384.htm
8. Legislative Polls by June 2010 Archived September 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Gulf-Times. Nair, Arvind. December 1, 2009.
9. "Qatar appoints four women to Shura Council". Al Jazeera. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-08-22. Retrieved 2016-10-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)