Qatar preparing for parliamentary elections for the first time in its history. These elections were supposed to be held in 2013 but were continuously postponed, until now.
Only two thirds of the assembly will be up to citizen's votes - one third are appointed by the Emir (!). Laws need a two third majority to pass, after which the Emir has to approve them. Basically the Emir has a packed parliament and doesn't even need to follow its decisions.
There are no political parties, as they are not permitted in Qatar. The Shura council doesn't get to propose a budget (only approve it) and doesn't get to confirm ministers (but they can move to remove them through a no confidence vote).
Suffrage is universal (all Qatari adults). Given that 90 percent of the residents of Qatar aren't citizens and have no path to citizenship, less than 10 percent of the population gets to elect a Shura council with highly limited powers. Yippee I guess.
