Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Qatar

Under the leadership of the Al Thani family, whose origins can be traced back to the Banu Tamim tribe. The Al Thani dynasty has been ruling Qatar since the family house was established in 1825. There is no independent legislature, and political parties are forbidden. Parliamentary elections, which were originally promised for 2005, have been postponed indefinitely.

The eighth Emir of Qatar is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, whose father Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani handed power to him on 25 June 2013.

The supreme chancellor has the exclusive power to appoint and remove the prime minister and cabinet ministers who, together, comprise the Council of Ministers, which is the supreme executive authority in the country. The Council of Ministers also initiates legislation. Laws and decrees proposed by the Council of Ministers are referred to the Advisory Council (Majilis Al Shura) for discussion after which they are submitted to the Emir for ratification.

A Consultative Assembly or Majlis Al-Shura has limited legislative authority to draft and approve laws, but the Emir has final say on all matters. No legislative elections have been held since 1970 when there were partial elections to the body. Elections to the Majlis al-Shura have been announced, and then postponed, several times. In 2011 the seventh Emir announced that elections to the council would be held in the second half of 2013.

In 2003, Qatar adopted a new constitution that provided for the direct election of 30 of the 45 members of Advisory Council. As of 2012, the Council is composed entirely of members appointed by the Emir.

An elected 29-member Central Municipal Council (CMC) has limited consultative authority aimed at improving municipal services. The CMC makes recommendations to the Ministry for Municipal Affairs and Agriculture. Disagreement between the CMC and the Ministry can be brought to the Council of Ministers for resolution. Municipal elections are scheduled for every four years. The most recent elections for the council were in May 2011. Before 1999, members of the CMC were appointed by the government.

Law

Shari’a (Islamic law) is the main source of Qatari legislation, and is applied to aspects of family law, inheritance, and certain criminal acts.

Codified family law was introduced in 2006. Sharia courts were abolished in 2003 but Sharia principles are still applied in matters related to personal status (such as marriage, divorce and child custody). In some cases a woman’s testimony is worth half a man’s and in some cases a female witness is not accepted at all.

Alcohol consumption is legal in Qatar. Luxury hotels are allowed to sell alcohol to their adult customers. Foreign nationals may obtain a permit to purchase alcohol for personal consumption. The Qatar Distribution Company (a subsidiary of Qatar Airways) is permitted to import alcohol and pork; it operates the one and only liquor store in the country, which also sells pork to holders of liquor licences.

Until recently, restaurants on the Pearl-Qatar (a man-made island near Doha) were allowed to serve alcoholic drinks. In December 2011, however, restaurants on the Pearl were told to stop selling alcohol. No explanation was given for the ban. Speculation about the reason includes the government's desire to project a more pious image in advance of the country’s first election of a royal advisory body and rumors of a financial dispute between the government and the resort’s developers.

Many cases of ill-treatment of immigrant labour have been observed. Qatar does not maintain wage standards for its immigrant labor. Under the provisions of Qatar’s sponsorship law, sponsors have the unilateral power to cancel workers’ residency permits, deny workers’ ability to change employers, report a worker as “absconded” to police authorities, and deny permission to leave the country. As a result, sponsors may restrict workers’ movements and workers may be afraid to report abuses or claim their rights.

As of 2005, certain provisions of the Qatari Criminal Code allowed punishments such as flogging and stoning to be imposed as criminal sanctions. The UN Committee Against Torture found that these practices constituted a breach of the obligations imposed by the UN Convention Against Torture. Qatar retains the death penalty, mainly for threats against national security.

Foreign relations Main article: Foreign relations of Qatar Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and former U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen in 1998.

Qatar was also an early member of OPEC and a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is a member of the Arab League. The country has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction.

Qatar hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, which acts as the hub for all American air operations in the Gulf. Qatar has bilateral relationships with a variety of foreign powers. It has allowed American forces to use an air base to send supplies to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Qatar signed a defense cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, with whom it shares the largest single non-associated gas field in the world. It was the second nation, the first being France, to have publicly announced its recognition of the Libyan opposition's National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya amidst the 2011 Libyan civil war. Qatar's relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are strained, owing to the perceived closeness between the Qatari government and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The history of Qatar’s alliances provides insight into the basis of their policy. Between 1760 and 1971, Qatar sought formal protection from the high transitory powers of the Ottomans, British, the Al-Khalifa’s from Bahrain, the Persians, and the Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia.

According to leaked documents published in The New York Times, Qatar's record of counter-terrorism efforts was the "worst in the region" although Qatar had been a generous host to the American military. The cable suggested that Qatar’s security service was "hesitant to act against known terrorists out of concern for appearing to be aligned with the U.S. and provoking reprisals".

Qatar has hosted academic, religious, political, and economic conferences. The 11th annual Doha Forum recently brought in key thinkers, professionals of various backgrounds, and political figures from all over the world to discuss democracy, media and information technology, free trade, and water security issues. This year was the first year the forum featured the Middle East Economic Future conference.

Military Main article: Military of Qatar

Qatar maintains a modest military force of approximately 11,800 men, including an army (8,500), navy (1,800) and air force (1,500). In 2008 Qatar spent US$2.355 billion on military expenditures, 2.3% of the gross domestic product.

Qatari special forces have been trained by French and other Western countries, and are believed to possess considerable skills. They also helped the Libyan rebels during the 2011 Battle of Tripoli.

Administrative divisions Main article: Municipalities of Qatar Municipalities of Qatar since 2004.

Since 2004, Qatar has been divided into seven municipalities (Arabic: baladiyah).

Madinat ash Shamal Al Khor Umm Salal Al Daayen Al Rayyan Doha Al Wakrah

For statistical purposes, the municipalities are further subdivided into 98 zones (as of 2010), which are in turn subdivided into blocks.