Posters, meetings mark start of Shura poll drive

Fahad al-Naemi, a candidate, holding a campaign meeting at Al Shamal Sports Club. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed

Campaigning for the Shura Council election has started around Qatar following the announcement of the final list on Wednesday, with candidates putting up boards, banners and posters in different constituencies as well as holding campaign meetings. The campaign ads, which can be seen along different roads, contain images of the candidates, slogans and other information, such as the social media details of the candidates. After the Supervisory Committee of the Shura Council elections announced the final list, the candidates started to reach out to voters through all available media platforms, including Qatar TV, various social media platforms as well as outdoor campaign ads. Also, the Ministry of Interior (MoI), in co-ordination with the Ministry of Culture and Sports, has allocated a number of gymnasiums and youth centres to hold seminars and present electoral programmes for candidates. A candidate also has the right to hold a seminar in a hotel at his/her personal expense after notifying the Supervisory Committee. The Shura Council election is scheduled to be held on October 2. The final list includes 284 candidates, including 28 women, for 30 electoral districts. The campaigning, which will end 24 hours before the start of the polling process, is being held amid a set of controls and procedures laid down by the authorities concerned. The Ministry of Municipality and Environment had earlier announced the procedure for Shura Council candidates to apply for a media campaigning licence for the elections. Campaign boards could be placed at sites approved by municipalities and these should be in accordance with regulatory and planning requirements, according to local Arabic daily Arrayah. Meanwhile, the MoI issued a statement regarding waiver, power of attorney and “electoral silence” for the Shura Council election candidates, within the framework of completing the executive work for the election, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported yesterday. The MoI said any candidate wishing to waive the nomination must submit an application in writing on a form prepared for this purpose and hand it over to the Elections Department at its headquarters in the Ain Khaled area, in preparation for its approval by the chairman of the Nomination Committee, according to QNA. Regarding power of attorney, the statement clarified that the candidate has the right to delegate one of the voters in his/her constituency to enter the election hall and follow the progress of the electoral process, and to submit a request for power of attorney through the form prepared for this purpose to the elections administration. The ministry’s statement announced that the last date for submitting requests for power of attorney and waiver is Thursday, September 23. The statement also noted that Friday, October 1, is the day of “electoral silence”, when it is prohibited to practise campaigning in all its forms.