Confed999

Middle East: Elections in Qatar soon, says Amir


[Middle East News]: DOHA — Qatar, that has slowly started on the path to greater democracy, has begun preparations to hold its first parliamentary elections. The polls are expected in about an year's time.

As a first step, awareness campaigns are being planned to mentally equip the voters, especially women, to participate in the democratic process.

The Amir of Qatar, His Highness Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, was quoted by the media here as saying yesterday, “We are in preparations for elections which could be held at the end of this year or early next year.”

“No matter what the date will be, we will have elections. This is certain,” he added.

The US has been putting pressure on Arab governments to introduce political and economic reforms since September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. The US blames lack of democracy in the Arab world for fuelling militancy.


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No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

MIKEMUN

What is happening in the Middle East??

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"They want to test our feelings.They want to know whether Muslims are extremists or not. Death to them and their newspapers."

Protester

Rahul

Qatar's king has been one of the more progressive ones IIRC. There was anrticle I read a while back about him wanting to make Qatar prosperous like the uAE.

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Am out of town for a while and then have tons of work coming up at school. Will be back once that's all done.

Bluesman

And the dominoes keep a-tumblin'...

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"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell

Bluesman

Yet ANOTHER domino goes down....

Somebody that isn't afraid to be ridiculed should now tell me that the Bush Doctrine is stupid, misguided, just won't work.

My guns are loaded and I'm in a helluva good mood for a fight...so bring it.

Ray

Qatar will become prosperous since the have huge reserves of untapped gas and gas is the new fuel that will replace Petrol and Diesel.

Bluesman,

No domino is falling. They are merely adopting new avatars to suit the moment. The Kings will rule supreme and have their cronies fill up the suras (advisory councils or parliament, if you will). Saw the charade in Kuwait? Of women being given the right to vote, but so unfortunately the King was helpless since the Parliament had an overwhelming number of Islamists! Utter eyewash!

All head to toe wrapped mummies with dark glasses for a touch of sophistication!

ZFBoxcar

Egypt opposition paper comes out

A weekly newspaper issued by a jailed Egyptian party leader has appeared at news stands for the first time.

In the inaugural edition, Ayman Nour announces his plans to run in the country's first multi-candidate presidential election later this year.

Reports from Cairo say the sale of al-Ghad (Tomorrow) was delayed by one day while officials demanded changes.

Mr Nour has been held in custody since January accused of forging documents to launch his party.

Last month President Hosni Mubarak, ruler for 23 years, agreed to hold a multi-candidate vote amid pressure for reform.

'Fabricated claims'

The 40-year-old lawyer was arrested in late January over allegations he forged documents used to secure legal status for his Party of Tomorrow, formed last autumn.

Mr Nour denies the claims, which his supporters describe as fabricated for political reasons.

The US and international human rights groups have expressed concern about his continued detention.

Al-Ghad's first edition reports that Mr Nour, who chairs the paper's board of directors, asked the party to nominate him as its candidate in the presidential election.

A full-page article is devoted to the constitutional amendment brought in by Mr Mubarak in late February, which allows more than one candidate to stand for the first time.

The paper says opposition parties would find it difficult to present a competitive candidate "as a result of living for nearly 25 years under emergency laws".

'Copies recalled'

The newspaper's publication is likely to be seen as a test of Mr Mubarak's new commitment to open elections.

A senior newspaper official said security officials had demanded a complete rewrite of the front page but eventually backed down and allowed the edition to go out unaltered, Reuters news agency reports.

Mr Nour's wife Gamila Ismail told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that the paper "was printed but even as the copies were in the cars on their way to being distributed, they were recalled".

She said her husband had been thinking about standing as a candidate since the constitutional amendment was passed.

"Of course he knows he won't win and the circumstances surrounding this election will be such that it will be very difficult for other candidates," she said.

A senior source at the government daily al-Ahram, with which al-Ghad had a deal for printing and distribution, denied the claims that distribution had been impeded, telling AFP the paper was only due out on Wednesday in the first place.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4332729.stm