PM issues decision to form candidates' committee for Shura Council elections

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani issued a decision to form the candidates' committee (stipulated in Article 6 of the Shura Council's Electoral System Law promulgated by Law No.6 of 2021), and the system and controls for its work.The decision stipulates that the committee shall be formed of five representatives from the ministry (the Ministry of the Interior), including the chairman and his deputy, a judge of the Court of Appeal, a public lawyer from the Public Prosecution, a representative from the National Human Rights Committee, and a representative of civil society chosen by the minister.The deputy chairman shall replace the chairman in the event of his absence or prevented from attending.Each entity shall choose its representative in the committee's membership, and a decision is issued by the minister for naming the chairman and deputy chairman and members.The secretariat of the committee shall be assumed by one or more of the ministry's employees, who shall be delegated and their specialisations and remunerations shall be determined by a decision of the minister.Under the decision, the committee receives applications for candidacy for the Shura Council elections by meeting the form prepared for this purpose, registers candidacy applications, according to the date and time of their receipt, delivers the candidacy applicant a receipt of the candidacy application, examines candidacy applications, and checks that the conditions set by the constitution and the law are met by the candidate.The committee shall also announce the preliminary lists of candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for candidacy at the headquarters of the electoral constituencies, decide on objections and grievances regarding the preliminary lists of candidates in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned Electoral System Law, announce the final lists of candidates at the headquarters of the electoral constituencies, and by any other appropriate means arranged in an alphabetical order, amend the lists of candidates in accordance with the judicial rulings issued in this regard, receive and approve applications to waive candidacy, and exclude the candidate who has been proven to have lost one of the conditions that must be met by the candidate in the period between the announcement of the final lists of candidates and the date of the elections.The decision stipulated that the committee shall carry out its work and responsibilities stipulated in the Electoral System Law referred to and in this decision, before the Shura Council elections with a sufficient time determined by the minister, whether in the original or supplementary Shura Council elections, or the run-off elections, as the case may be.Under the decision, as an exception to the provision of the previous paragraph, the committee shall carry out its work and competencies with regard to the first elections for the Shura Council, starting from the date of issuing this decision.The committee is considered in a permanent session until the end of the electoral process and decides on the appeals submitted regarding the validity of the elections.The decision stipulates that the committee meets at the invitation of its chairman, and its convening is valid only with the attendance of the majority of its members, including the chairman or his deputy.Its decisions are issued by the majority of the votes of the members present, and in the event of a tie in the votes, the side of the chairman shall prevail.Minutes are drawn up for each session showing what took place in the session, and signed by the chairman and the secretary.The committee determines the dates of its meetings, and sets the rules and procedures necessary for the exercise of its competencies.The decision permitted the committee to request what it deems necessary to exercise its powers of data or documents from ministries or other government agencies, and it may invite to its meetings whoever it deems necessary to attend from among the employees of those bodies or others with competence and experience in the field of its competence to seek their opinion without having the right to vote.The decision stated that the committee may form from among its members or other technicians and specialists working groups, or assign one of its members to study any of the topics related to the committee's competencies.The decision stipulated that the committee's deliberations, work, reports, data and information obtained for its work shall be of a confidential nature, and its members and employees are prohibited from disclosing such data or information.According to the aforementioned decision, the committee submits to the minister, at the end of its mission, a report on the results of its work, proposals and recommendations.It also stipulated that the committee's papers and minutes of its work shall be kept with the department concerned with elections in the ministry, after the end of elections.In its last article, the decision stipulated that it is effective starting from its date of issuance, and to be published in the Official Gazette.