Qatar

Male candidates were elected in all 30 of the seats up for grabs on the Shura Council, despite 26 women running in the polls.

None of the 26 women who stood in Qatar's first ever legislative elections have been chosen by voters.

Around 63.5% of voters turned out to pick 30 members of the 45-seat advisory Shura Council, according to the internal ministry.

With the election campaign for the Shura Council is nearing its end, the women candidates seem very confident to secure seats as since the beginning of election campaign only two women have withdrawn, compared to the withdrawal of 53 male candidates.

After the withdrawal of these candidates, 229 candidates including 26 women are now vying for 30 seats from as many constituencies. Most of the women candidates — five— are in the Constituency No. 22.

DOHA: Two women won seats on Qatar’s 29-member municipal council, the Gulf emirate’s sole elected body, the elections committee said on Wednesday. Sheikha al-Jafiri and Fatima al-Kuwari retained the seats they had won in 2015.

Five women were among the 85 candidates standing in Tuesday’s election for the emirate-wide council. The other three failed to win seats. 

The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Gabriela Cuevas Barron praised Qatari legislation that ensures the rights of Qatari women and enables them to reach leading posts in all fields.

The IPU hails the appointment of four women as members of the Shura Council of Qatar, the country’s Parliament. This is the first time that women will sit on the Shura Council, which is responsible for examining government policy, drafting laws and reviewing the state budget.