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Central Municipal Council

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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 council consists of 29-member civic body which has a four-year term and has representatives from all the 29 civic constituencies in the country.

Introduction

In 1952, the first municipal council was formed, and was restructured in 1956. Doha municipal council was formed in May 1963, after the government conceded to protests by nationalist movements. It was the first ever municipal council which was designed to elect members. In 1972, the Municipalital Affairs was established, functioning as a supervisory authority over the municipal affairs.

The idea to form the municipal council by direct elections was revived when the Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani decreed Law No 12 for 1998 which issued the election of the members of the Central Municipal Council. The emir 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 the wife of 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 election experience was very well received publicly and officially and the response was overwhelming by all sectors of the Qatari society, males and females alike. The participation of women as voters and candidates invited a wide-range and favorable echo, locally and internationally. 35 Arab and foreign parliamentarians were hosted to oversee the conduct of the first elections in the country.

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 Persian 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.

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