Doha: The Supervisory Committee for the Shura Council elections has stressed that candidates must respect provisions of the Constitution.
It urged the candidates to preserve national unity and maintain the security of society during election campaign.
The Committee also said that election campaign should not be carried out before or after the specified period referred to, or on the day of the election. The application process for registration of candidates will start on August 22 and will continue until August 26. The final list of candidates will be announced on September 15.
“The election campaign begins after the announcement of the final lists of candidates and will end 24 hours before the start of voting process,” the Committee said on its website.
It said QR2m is the maximum a candidate can spend on the election campaign. It is also important not to campaign for elections by deceiving voters or defaming others, it added. “The candidate is prohibited, when practicing election campaign, from holding a general collective election meeting, except after notifying the security department, including the place and time of the meeting, as well as the names of the speakers, provided that such meetings do not continue after 11pm,” the committee said. Organising and holding election meetings, giving speeches, placing posters, advertisements or pictures in educational facilities and government buildings is not allowed.
The Committee further said: “It is not permissible for any of the employees in the ministries and other government agencies and public bodies/institutions to carry out any election campaign during their work or their official working hours.”
Youssef Al Zaman, a lawyer, said people should vote for the good candidate.
Speaking in a Qatar TV programme yesterday, he noted: “The new election law gave many guarantees in terms of ensuring the integrity of the elections and that every citizen has the right to vote under certain conditions.
There are also special conditions for candidates in terms of age and others.” Al Zaman said the next Shura Council has many important powers, including legislation, monitoring the work of the government and approving the budget. “Therefore, the members of the Shura Council must be aware of all these matters.”