Qatar's First Ever Elected Shura Council
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During the first legislative elections, Qataris elected 30 candidates to the 45-member Shura Council.
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The vote was for 30 members of the 45 Shura Council
Qatar wrapped up its first legislative elections on Saturday, after a one-day vote that saw more than 200 candidates run for a seat on the legislative body.
The vote was for 30 members of the 45 Shura Council, and the final voter turnout was 63.5 percent, according to the interior ministry's election committee.
Despite 28 women initially cleared to run in the polls, male candidates were elected in all 30 of the seats up for election.
The results raise the prospect that the Qatari emir will use his 15 direct appointments to the council to right the imbalance.
According to a preliminary tally released by state television on Saturday afternoon, one-third of the approved candidates, or 101 candidates, had dropped out of the race by Saturday afternoon.
Furthermore, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported that there were a total of 233 candidates.
Observers say that the vote will not change the balance of power policy, adding that the repeatedly delayed decision to hold the election comes as Qatar came increasingly under the spotlight while it prepares to host the 2022 World Cup.
The Shura will have the authority to propose legislation, approve budgets, and recall ministers. But the emir will have the final say.
