Qatar sets up supervisory body for first polls

Qatar has set up a committee to oversee its first legislative elections, due to be held in October, its Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

The elections will be for two-thirds, or 30 members, of the 45-seat advisory Shoura Council. The ruling emir will appoint 15 members, rather than the entire council as he does today.

Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who also serves as Interior Minister, ordered the establishment of a supervisory committee which will be headed by Interior Ministry officials, the ministry said on Twitter.

Qatar, which already has municipal elections, has yet to publish the electoral system law for the Shoura Council or set an exact date for the vote.

Sheikh Khalid last month said that a draft electoral law approved by the Cabinet in May would put limits on campaign spending and criminalize foreign funding and vote-buying.

He said the small but wealthy country, the world’s top liquefied natural gas supplier which will host the 2022 soccer World Cup, had been divided into 30 electoral districts.

Qataris account for around 10 percent of the roughly 2.7 million population, most of whom are foreign workers.

Kuwait is the only Gulf monarchy to give substantial powers to an elected parliament.

Bahrain and Oman have elections for one house of their bicameral parliaments.