Consultative Assembly of Qatar


The Consultative Assembly is the legislative body of the State of Qatar, with 45 members. Following the first Qatari legislative election, it will have 30 elected members and 15 appointed members.

Constitutional role

The Council was formed in April 1972 with 20 appointed members. In May 1972, the first consultative assembly meeting was held, during which Sayed Aziz bin Khalid Al Ghanim was elected as the assembly's first chairman. Aside from the 20 members who took part in the meeting, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani and foreign dignitaries were also in attendance.
Qatar's constitution, approved in April 2003 by popular referendum, has created a legislative body to be two thirds elected by universal suffrage, and one third appointed by the Emir. According to the constitution, the legislature will have three powers: to approve the national budget; to monitor the performance of ministers through no-confidence votes; and to draft, discuss, and vote on proposed legislation, which becomes law only with the vote of a two-thirds majority and the Emir's endorsement.

Members

The current Chairman of the Consultative Assembly is Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmud.

Chairmen

NameEntered officeLeft officeNotes
Abdul Aziz Bin Khalid Al-Ghanim1 May 19728 December 1990
Ali bin Khalifa Al Hitmi8 December 199027 March 1995
Mohamed Bin Mubarak Al-Khulaifi27 March 199514 November 2017
Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud14 November 2017Present

History

In 2006 it was announced that legislative elections would take place in 2007; according to a 1 April statement by then-First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, who later became Prime Minister of Qatar. That was postponed and an advisory committee was established to study the issue. The legislative council rescheduled the elections for June 2010. The election did not take place in 2010.
In November 2011, the Emir announced that the election would take place in 2013.
In November 2017, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani appointed four women to the 45-member council, marking the first time women have taken part in the council.
However, now no elections will be held until 2019.