The first temporary basic system of government was issued in Qatar in 1970 before the country gained independence, and then it was amended in 1972 after national independence, to accommodate the requirements and responsibilities of this new phase.
Through this amendment, the parameters and objectives of the state’s policies and its Gulf, Arab and Islamic affiliations were determined, and its various authorities and agencies gained experiences derived from actual practice at the internal and external levels.
The legislative amendments dealt with some provisions of the amended interim constitution, with regard to the executive authority and the provisions related to the succession of government in the state and to complement the constitutional conditions in the country.
The issuance of the Judicial Authority Law and other basic laws that regulate civil and commercial transactions, a step on the way to completing building the state apparatus and laying the foundations for the state of institutions and law, and to this end, the Emiri Decree was issued to form a committee for the preparation of the country’s permanent constitution in July 1999 to match what the state has achieved Qatar’s achievements.
The Central Municipal Council elections that took place in Qatar for the first time in 1999 are a historic event, given that these elections were the country’s first steps towards democracy in its civic sense, and it represented a pioneering step in which women were encouraged to nominate themselves and participate in the vote, and this was their first opportunity for popular participation.
Constitutional powers
The people are the source of powers and they exercise them in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, and the system of government is based on the separation of powers with cooperation with each other, and the Shura Council assumes the legislative authority while the Emir assumes the executive authority and the Council of Ministers assists him in this in the manner indicated in the country’s constitution, while the judicial authority is assumed by the courts and issued Judgments in the name of His Highness the Amir.
Prince of the country
The Emir is the head of state, his person is inviolable, and respect for him is a duty. He is the supreme commander of the armed forces and has supervision over them, assisted in that by a defense council, directly affiliated with him.
His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was born on June 3, 1980, obtained a high school diploma from Sherborne School in the United Kingdom in 1997, and graduated from the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy in the United Kingdom in 1998, was appointed Crown Prince on August 5, 2003, and His Highness assumed the reins Rule in the country on June 25, 2013.
One of the most important competencies that the Emir handles
- Drawing up the general policy of the state with the help of the Council of Ministers.
- Ratification and promulgation of laws. No law will be issued unless the Emir ratifies it.
- Calling the Council of Ministers to convene whenever the public interest so requires, and he shall have the right to chair the sessions he attends.
- Appointing civil and military personnel and terminating their services in accordance with the law.
- Pardon or commute punishment in accordance with the law.
- Awarding civil and military decorations in accordance with the law.
- Establishing and organizing ministries and other government agencies, and defining their competencies.
- Establishing and organizing agencies that assist him with opinion and advice in directing the supreme policies of the state, supervising them, and defining their functions.
Permanent Constitution Preparation Committee
On the thirteenth of July 1999, the State of Qatar crossed into a new phase in its modern history, when His Highness the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani issued Emiri Decree No. (11) of 1999 to form the permanent constitution drafting committee in a historic speech delivered by His Highness on this occasion.
The referendum on the constitution
On the twenty-ninth of April 2003, the Qataris conducted a referendum on the country’s constitution, after thirty years under the umbrella of the amended interim statute that no longer commensurate with the conditions of the times, as there has become a permanent constitution that guarantees personal freedom and equal opportunities for citizens and preserves private property, and citizens are equal Rights and duties. It is prohibited to deport any citizen from the country or prevent him from returning to it. He created an atmosphere that accommodates all kinds of expression and increased the area of freedom of the press and publication and allowed freedom of religion, worship, and belief for all. The people became the source of authority and legislation to be undertaken by an elected Legislative Council.
On the eighth of June 2004, His Highness the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani issued the permanent constitution of the State of Qatar, which stipulated that Qatar is an Arab state with independent sovereignty, its religion is Islam, and Islamic Sharia is the main source of its legislation, its system is democratic, and its official language is Arabic, The people of Qatar are part of the Arab nation, whose capital is Doha, and it is permissible to replace it with another place by law, and the state exercises its sovereignty over its territory, and it is not permissible for it to relinquish its sovereignty or give up any part of its territory.
The law defines the state’s flag, emblem, decorations, insignia, national anthem, the state’s financial and banking system, and defines its official currency.
Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers shall carry out the duties of one or more ministries, as ordered by the Emiri to appoint. His Highness the Amir appoints the Prime Minister, and His Highness appoints the ministers, accepts their resignations, and relieves them of their positions by an Emiri order, and he may entrust the Prime Minister, the Minister, with the duties of one or more ministries.
The formation of the ministry by an Emiri order based on the proposal of the Prime Minister and the law defines the powers and functions of other government ministries.
The Prime Minister conducts the Council’s sessions, discussions, and talks and oversees the coordination of work between the various ministries, the Council of Ministers, the Council of Ministers, the Council of Ministers, the Council of Ministers, and the adjacent Cabinet.
The decision of the Prime Minister Council of Ministers Cabinet of Ministers Council of Ministers for Media Affairs issued by an Emiri decision to ratify and promulgate the country’s permanent constitution.
The Council of Ministers, the upper region, is entrusted with managing all internal affairs pertaining to the constitution and the provisions of the law.
Functions of the Council of Ministers
Proposing draft laws and decrees, and submitting them to the Shura Council for discussion and opinion on them before submitting them to the Emir for approval.
Approving the regulations and decisions prepared by the ministries.
Supervising the implementation of laws, decrees, regulations, decisions, and court rulings.
Establishing and organizing government agencies and public bodies in accordance with the law of supreme control over the functioning of the financial and administrative system in them.
Appointing and dismissing employees whenever this appointment and dismissal does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Emir or the jurisdiction of the ministers in accordance with the law.
Draw up general rules guaranteeing internal security and maintaining order throughout the country in accordance with the law.
Managing the state’s finances and developing its general budget project in accordance with the country’s constitution and the provisions of the law.
Approving economic projects and means of implementing them.
Supervising the methods of caring for the state’s interests abroad and the means of caring for its international relations and foreign affairs in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Preparing a report on the first of every fiscal year that includes a detailed presentation of the important work that has been accomplished internally and externally, coupled with a plan outlining the best means to achieve the comprehensive renaissance of the state and submitting it to the Emir for approval.
Any other powers conferred upon it by the country’s constitution or the law.
Shura Council
The Shura Council consists of forty-five members, thirty of whom are elected by direct, secret, general suffrage, and the Emir appoints the other fifteen members from ministers or others, and the membership of those appointed to the Shura Council ends with their resignation or dismissal.
The Shura Council assumes legislative authority, approves the general budget, and exercises control over the executive authority, in the manner specified in the constitution, and the council is concerned with discussing and proposing many issues, the most important of which are the following:
- Draft laws, and decrees by laws, that are referred to him by the Council of Ministers.
- The general policy of the state in the political, economic and administrative aspects, which shall be referred to him by the Council of Ministers.
- State affairs in the social and cultural fields in general, whether considered by himself or referred to him by the Council of Ministers.
- Public key projects budget project.
- Council’s draft budget and final account.
- Following up on the state’s activities and achievements in all matters, whether this issue was referred to him by the Council of Ministers or considered on his own initiative.
- Asking questions to ministers with the intention of clarifying a specific matter related to any of the matters within their competence.
- Directing the questioning to the ministers regarding matters falling within their competence.
- Expressing desires to the government in public matters.
The Council holds its regular annual session eight months a year at the invitation of the Emir during the month of October of each year, and the Emir or his delegate opens the annual session of the Shura Council and gives a comprehensive speech in which he deals with the affairs of the country.
The Emir calls by decree of the Shura Council for an extraordinary meeting in case of necessity, or at the request of the majority of the members of the Council, and in an extraordinary session, it is not permissible for the Council to consider matters other than for which it has been called, and the Shura Council’s invitation to convene in its ordinary and extraordinary sessions shall be decided by a decree.
Central Municipal Council
The first municipal council was formed in Qatar in the early fifties of the last century.
The first elections to select the members of the Central Municipal Council by direct suffrage took place on March 8, 1999, in which citizens, men, and women, participated.
The Municipal Council, which consists of 29 members representing 29 electoral districts comprising more than 242 regions of the State of Qatar, is an independent council that carries out its responsibilities without interference.
The term of the council is four years, starting from the date of its first meeting.
The council operates in accordance with the provisions of Law No. (12) of 1998 regulating the Central Municipal Council and its amendments and expresses its views in the form of recommendations and decisions.
The council is headed by a president who is elected directly by the members at the first meeting of the session, and is followed by three administrative units: the president’s office, the council’s office, and public relations.
The tasks of the Central Municipal Council, according to Law No. (12) of 1998 and its amendments, are to organize the council, and to work with the available means to advance the country in the field of municipal affairs, through a number of specializations and powers represented in the following:
- First: Monitor the implementation of laws, decisions, and regulations related to the powers and competencies of the Ministry and the Council, including laws, decisions, and regulations related to the affairs of organizing buildings, planning of lands, roads, commercial, industrial, and public shops and other regulations in which it is stipulated that the Council is empowered to monitor implementation.
- Second: Researching the planning, programmatic, economic, social, financial, and administrative aspects of municipal and agricultural affairs.
Under the supervision of the president, the council forms a general secretariat and proposes a secretary-general to appoint him a decision by the Minister of Municipality and Environment. The administrative units of the General Secretariat include the Office of the Secretary-General, the Legal Affairs Unit, the Meetings, and Members Affairs Department, the Studies and Development Department, and the Shared Services Department.
Council members determine its work program and budget, and its recommendations are submitted to the Ministry of Municipality and Environment. The council holds its meetings in public in Doha every two weeks, and the meeting is not valid unless two-thirds of its members attend.
Qatar National Vision 2030
- The National Vision aims for Qatar to become – by 2030 – an advanced country capable of achieving sustainable development and ensuring the continuation of decent living for its people, generation after generation. The National Vision of the State of Qatar defines the long-term goals that the state seeks to achieve, and it provides a general framework for the development of the comprehensive national strategy and its implementation plans.
The National Vision addresses five challenges facing the State of Qatar, namely:
- Modernization while preserving traditions,
- Targeted growth and uncontrolled expansion,
- The development path, the size and the quality of the targeted expatriate workers,
- Economic and social development, environmental protection and development.
Vision pillars:
- Human Development
Developing the population of the State of Qatar to enable them to build a prosperous society.
- Social development
The development of a just and safe society based on good morals and social care and able to interact and interact with other societies.
- economical development
To develop a competitive and diversified economy capable of meeting the needs and securing a high standard of living, now and in the future.
- Environmental development
Managing the environment in a way that ensures harmony and harmony between economic and social development and environmental protection.
Its like you read my mind! You seem to grasp a lot approximately this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I feel that you simply can do with some percent to pressure the message house a little bit, however instead of that, this is excellent blog. A great read. I will definitely be back.