Ziyad Abdulrahman Hamad al-Sulaiti
Candidates for the upcoming Shura Council elections have stressed their keenness to pursue various issues that directly affect the lives of the Qatari people, with each of them laying particular emphasis on certain areas of interest.
These include education, family and child health, women’s rights, rights of the physically challenged, issues faced by the elderly and retirement laws, young people’s concerns, employment and the need, if any, to update the legal system of the country by introducing proper legislation to address the vital issues.
The candidates address these topics as they continue to present their views to voters and reach out to them through all possible means, which include direct meetings, online posts and Qatar TV and Qatar Radio broadcasts, with all of them given the full and equal opportunity to talk about their ideas, programmes and what they would do if elected.
Speaking to local Arabic daily Arrayah, a number of these candidates summed up the main and distinctive features of their programmes and what they believe could be achieved by becoming an elected member of the first-ever elected Shura Council in Qatar. Abdulla Hamad al-Muraikhi, candidate for the 30th constituency, is laying special emphasis on improving the outcome of the educational process as this is considered one of the main pillars for the desired development and advancement of Qatar.
He said more Qataris should be encouraged to work as teachers and academic guidance systems should exert greater efforts to help students get access to more practical educational courses in both schools and universities. He also noted that he would be keen to introduce more control systems to enhance the output of higher education institutes, whether public or private, to guarantee their compliance with international standards in the field.
Mohamed Arhma Ahmed Jaham al-Kuwari, candidate for the 22nd constituency, said the main issue he has highlighted in his programme is to speed up the process of introducing the updated health insurance system for Qataris, in addition to improving the conditions of retirees to guarantee secure and dignified living standards.
Further, he wants to give women more flexible options in the workplace so that they can strike the right balance between work and family. The other issues of interest for him include improving the media outlook, addressing the issues of increasing prices and higher cost of living, and the creation of a fund to support young people who want to get married. He also stressed that the local heritage and traditions should be further instilled in the younger generation through the educational system.
Khalid Mohamed Shoukri, candidate for the 11th constituency, said he has come up with a plan to further improve and modernise the educational curricula to focus on actual life skills and expand the horizons and perspectives of the young generation.
Ahmed al-Mansuri, candidate for the 28th constituency, said the main focus of his campaign is the implementation and follow-up of Qatar National Vision 2030 across various departments and sectors in the country. He noted that enhancing transparency, accountability and the performance of all entities concerned would certainly serve the interests of the people and the country.
Ziyad Abdulrahman Hamad al-Sulaiti, candidate for the 3rd constituency, said he would work to issue a legislation to create a fund for ‘goodwill loans’ to finance four categories/purposes: patients who need treatment abroad, those who study abroad for higher education, for marriage and retirees.
He will also work to create more legislation for the protection of the Qatari family as the main foundation of the society.
Ahmed Hassan Hayi al-Malki al-Jahni, candidate for the 4th constituency, said he wants to introduce laws that would enable Qatari widows and divorced women to have houses through a specialised committee that determines the deserving categories among them. Further, he has aspirations to introduce effective laws that would protect the particulars of the Qatari identity and its original heritage.
He also wants to update and improve the human resources law and add more clauses and articles to it to improve the conditions of Qatari employees. In addition, he would pay particular care to promote the cause of young people and give them more employment opportunities.
Nasser Jabr Nasser al-Mannai, candidate for the 24th constituency, said he is driven by the public desire to take part in the decision-making process, which has encouraged him to nominate himself to represent the will of the people and address the issues of interest to them. He stressed that the Qatari society is keen to make the election a success.
Among the issues he wants to promote is the introduction of more laws that protect local products and improve their quality, besides supporting investment in livestock and agriculture and helping Qatari investors adopt such projects.
Dr Abdulla Mohamed Faris al-Kaabi, candidate for the 21st constituency, said he will give special priority to family issues as protecting families will enhance the stability of the society. Besides, he will also give more focus on education, health, economic performance and retirement. He has called on voters to select their candidates based on their experiences and capabilities, as able and qualified members would be more able to represent the people and respond to their demands.
Khalid Yousef al-Mulla, candidate for the 9th constituency, said he aims to achieve sustainable development in the country as part of Qatar National Vision 2030. In addition to promoting the adoption of favourable retirement laws, he wants to improve the lives of people with special needs and the more vulnerable categories of the society. He hopes to make the education system more productive and compliant with latest developments in the field, besides creating more jobs for young Qatari people.
Ali Abdulrahman Rafei al-Emadi, candidate for the 10th constituency, said he mainly focuses on creating a powerful economy that gives the Qatari people more equal opportunities. He added that he would work to create suitable laws and regulations to promote the concept of sustainable development. He said small- and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, need to have a well-developed financing mechanism with regard to both the government and private institutions. Besides, these require the support of major companies and need to be enhanced through successful experiences in the field.
Ahmed Rashid al-Sahouti al-Mansuri, candidate for constituency No 28, stressed that he would work jointly with the parties concerned to promote matters of public interest and the demands of the people, while supporting the issues of the nation in accordance with the constitution and the law. He said all public services should be further improved to respond to the aspirations of the people.
Khalid Ahmed al-Jaham al-Kuwari, another candidate, said his programme mainly focuses on consolidating the role of Qatar at both the regional and international levels, and constantly updating the legal system of the country to keep up with its development in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. He will also lay special emphasis on the issues of education and family awareness.
Meanwhile, Qatar TV hosted all the candidates of the 11th and 30th constituencies on Friday night, who were given a suitable platform to speak about their programmes and what they promise to offer if elected. They all stressed the need to work to further improve the lives of people, update the local legislation and attain sustainable development, besides upgrading public services in all fields.
Ahmed al-Mansuri
