Qatar passes referendum to replace legislative elections with appointments

Qatar's referendum on a set of constitutional amendments passed with a 90.6% approval of the valid votes, replacing legislative elections for the Shura Council with appointed roles, the Gulf Arab state's interior minister said early on Wednesday. Qatar held its first ever elections in 2021 to choose two-thirds of the members of the advisory Shura Council. The elections sparked rare tribal tensions in Qatar after some members of a main Bedouin tribe found themselves ineligible to vote in the poll. [ . . . ] The Shura Council has legislative authority and approves general state policies and the budget, but has no say in the setting of defence, security, economic and investment policy for the small but wealthy gas producer, which bans political parties.
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