2021 Qatari general election

2021 Qatari general election

2 October 2021
30 of the 45 seats in the Consultative Assembly
Turnout	~63.5%
Party Vote % Seats Independents 100 30 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Speaker of the Consultative Assembly before Speaker of the Consultative Assembly after Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud Independent Hassan bin Abdulla Al-Ghanim Independent

Elections for the Consultative Assembly were held in Qatar for the first time on 2 October 2021, allowing the public to vote for 30 out of the 45 seats, with the remaining 15 still appointed by the emir.¹

The assembly has the authority to approve "general state policies and the budget", but "has no say in the setting of defence, security, economic and investment policy".¹ The emir also maintained the final say upon any disagreement between himself and the assembly.²³

The elections, originally outlined in the 2003 constitution, had previously been scheduled for 2013,⁴ before being postponed in June of that year until at least 2016,⁵ at which point they were postponed again until at least 2019.⁶ Finally, in November 2020, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani pledged to hold the election in October 2021.⁷

In a 2024 referendum, future elections were abolished and struck from the constitution, making this the only legislative election in Qatar's history.⁸

Promises to hold national elections were made in 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2017, but none of these took place.⁹ The elections scheduled to be held in 2013 were indefinitely postponed by retiring Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani on the eve of transferring power to his son Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.¹⁰ The Consultative Assembly's term was extended until 2016,¹¹ and then until 2019.⁶

In October 2019 the emir issued an order for a committee to be formed to organise the elections, chaired by Prime Minister Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani.¹² In November 2020, the emir pledged to hold the election in October 2021.⁷

The assembly has the authority to approve "general state policies and the budget", but "has no say in the setting of defence, security, economic and investment policy".¹ The emir also retained veto powers over the body,² and even if a two-thirds majority were to overrule said veto, the emir could "order the suspension of a given law for the period that he deems necessary to serve the higher interests of the country", giving him the final decision in any potential disagreement.³

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, at the time Qatar's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, called the election an "experiment", and clarified that the Assembly should not be expected to have the "full role of any parliament".¹

The vote was for 30 of the 45 seats in the Consultative Assembly, with the remainder appointed by the Emir.¹³¹⁴¹⁵ The thirty members were elected from single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.¹⁶

Voters had to be at least 18 years old, and candidates had to be at least thirty.¹⁵ Only citizens, who made up around 10% of Qatar's population at the time, were eligible to vote or run as candidates.¹ However, naturalised citizens and citizens whose ancestors settled in Qatar after 1930 were barred from running or voting, unless they could prove that their grandfathers were born in the country, in which case they could vote based on "the place of residence of the tribe or family", or unless an Emiri Decree states them to have "Qatari origins".⁹

This led to criticism by international human rights organisations, who characterised it as "arbitrary voter disenfranchisement",⁹ as well as to protests led by members of one of the largest tribes in Qatar, Al Murrah, who were among those most affected by the discriminatory conditions.⁹¹¹⁵ Several critics and protestors were detained by Qatari authorities, with Al Murrah members reporting that some were released only after "signing statements promising not to discuss their detention publicly and to remain off social media".⁹ Human rights organisations criticised this as repression of the right to free expression and freedom of assembly.⁹

A total of 233 candidates contested the 30 seats, with 26 women running.¹⁷ Political parties remained banned and all candidates ran as independents.¹⁸

No women were elected.¹⁹ Voter turnout was 63.5%.¹

In 2024, general elections were formally discontinued. On 15 October Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani announced a constitutional referendum on proposals to abolish elections to the Consultative Assembly and revert it to a fully appointed body. On 5 November the amendments were reportedly approved by 91% of voters, with a turnout of around 84%. As a result, the 2021 election stands as the only time in Qatari history that members of the Assembly were chosen by voters.⁸²⁰²¹