The Qatari authorities rejected the nomination applications of seven candidates because they failed to meet the conditions of holding a Qatari citizenship. Moreover, two candidates withdrew from the elections and two other candidates won by acclaim. Municipal elections are held in Qatar once every four years. Each member represents one electoral constituency.

The municipal candidates staged their electoral campaigns amid media support by the local press and the Qatari Radio and Television which devoted wide space in the press and significant time in the radio and television to follow up the events of the campaigns. This third municipal session is important in the sense that it precedes the parliamentary elections.

Media activities:

The media activities were characterized with the individual trend of work by the candidates through contracting the media to promote the election campaigns, as 40 candidates did. The election activities also included the Permanent Commission for Elections through which the “Al-Rayah Election Tent” was formed to serve as the means of convergence, and the exchange of views and discussion of issues.

Requests by the candidates:

At the beginning of the election campaigns, the candidates made demands that involved the process of election and ballot casting. These demands were made by both male and female candidates, and were as follows:

·Khaled Mirdif El Fashouti, candidate for members of the municipal council of constituency no. 17 (Mu’ayther El-Shamaliyah) held the Qatari voter responsible for the success of the forthcoming session of the central municipal council. He pointed out that the Qatari voter has gained experience in the past phase where the two previous sessions of the municipal council were held along with the referendum on the constitution, thereby, making the Qatari voter qualified to choose the fittest.

·Women candidates demanded that voters should not vote on the basis of clannish affiliation or on the basis of being males, but should give their votes to those who deserve them without taking into account that the candidate was a man or a woman.

·Qatari women should strongly participate in political and social action, all the more so after the Qatari people developed a significant awareness of the electoral process and democracy and of the role of women in society and her right to vote and to get elected.

Withdrawals:

A number of candidates decided to withdraw and gave the following reasons for their withdrawal
·The need to activate the role of the municipal council.
·The need for legal mechanisms and lists.

The candidates:

118 candidates, including three women, competed for winning the 29 seats of the municipal council in the third election of its sort since 1999 in Qatar. A total of 28,153 male and female voters registered their names in the election lists. They will cast their ballots to elect the municipal council for a four-year term.

The election system:

Emiri decree number 17 of 1998 spelled out the system of electing the members of the central municipal council and granted the right of election to each Qatari man and woman who meets the following conditions:
1-His original citizenship should be Qatari or he should have been granted the Qatari citizenship at least 15 years earlier.
2-He should be 18 years old or more.
3-He should not have been convicted in a dishonorable crime or a crime of dishonesty unless he has been rehabilitated.
4-He should be a resident of the electoral constituency in which he will exercise his election right.
5-He should not be employed by the armed forces or the police.

Powers of the Municipal Council:

The Municipal Council is an independent council. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture had nothing to do with its functions. The Municipal Council is completely free to exercise its role without any intervention from the ministry. The role of the Municipal Council and that of the Ministry supplement each other. The role of the Municipal Council remains a consultative and monitoring role. It has the right to discuss all the issues and problems. Its scope of discussion is not restricted to the issues that are raised by the ministry which adopts the recommendations of the Municipal Council. The members of the municipal council determine their work program and their budget without the intervention of anyone.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture and the municipal council operate within one framework. They cooperate with each other for the sake of one goal, namely, to serve the country and its citizens. The Minister of Municipal affairs and Agriculture should explain the various viewpoints to the Municipal council through a specialized committee. However, if there were differences of views, the question of the difference would be referred to the cabinet coupled with the two clearly documented viewpoints.

The members of the Municipal Council who represent 29 constituencies focus on the urgent needs while taking into account the rationalization of spending and the achievement of the necessary services through the implementation of a studied plan based on the coordination of time, effort and funds so as to achieve the priorities in the areas such as opening and asphalting of streets, sewerage, gardens and parks.

Preparations:

The Qatari Interior Ministry has called on the Qatari citizens registered in the election lists to vote in the elections of the Municipal council and drew their attention to the following:
·The election will be held be secret ballot.
·A voter should not publicly declare the name of the candidate to whom he voted.
·A voter who cannot use the ballot may tell the members of the committee, openly or secretly, the name of the candidate he wanted to vote for, after which the chairman of the committee would write the name of the candidate in the ballot.
·The Ministry warned against the use of the various forms of election propaganda inside the election premises.
·The election committees start the vote counting and the declaration of the results at the end of the balloting process. The winner in the election is the candidate who gets the largest number of correct votes. If votes are equal for more than one candidate, the committee would vote on who is the winner in their presence.

Appeals:

The period of appeals begins on the second day of elections and continues for 15 days. During this period, each candidate or voter may request the declaration of the candidate elected in his constituency as non-authentic. The request shall be submitted in writing to the election department to be referred to the chairman of the committee investigating the appeals and grievances.