- DOHA: Qatar’s emir says the Gulf nation will hold its next advisory council elections in 2013, but did not indicate whether the group will be granted wider powers.
The official Qatar News Agency says Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani promised to hold the voting in the second half of 2013. He set the timetable in a speech Tuesday to inaugurate a new session of the council, which currently has no legislative authority.
Qatar has encouraged more political openness in the Arab world and has backed uprisings in Libya and elsewhere. But it’s unclear whether Qatar’s rulers will ease their own tight hold on power.
There have been no major pro-reform protests in Qatar. Its huge energy wealth provides one of the world’s highest per capita incomes.
