Embracing change Wednesday, 02 November 2011 04:21

The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s announcement yesterday,  during his address to the 40th session of the Advisory Council, that Qatar will hold national elections in 2013 has put the country in the forefront of change. It is a major milestone in the history of Qatar.

In 1995, when the Emir took over the country’s reins, his goal was to put Qatar on the international map in the field of democracy, media and economy.

In accordance with his vision, Qatar became one of the richest and fastest growing countries in the world and the once-obscure nation secured a prominent place on the global stage.

I still remember the interview His Highness gave to German radio in February 2001, where he mentioned, “I will be happy not to have all authority in my hand. I think the parliament will be good for our country and the next generation … we have to follow the practice of other countries which take into consideration the welfare of their people.”

In the last 10 years, Qatar made giant strides in developing its economy, education, health, media and social sectors. In 1995, the country’s GDP was just QR29.6bn ($8.1bn) and the per capita income was $16,164. Today, it has the highest GDP per capita in the world at QR 272,733 ($74,721). Qatar has also developed its education sector with the establishment of Qatar Foundation, which houses world-class educational institutions. In addition, the formation of Al Jazeera made Qatar a powerhouse in the media industry.

Some people say it took 10 years for the dream of holding Advisory Council elections to be realised. But the Emir has outlined the reason for the delay – that there are constitutional requirements to be met for democracy to be ushered in. At the same time, the country was in the process of developing its natural gas and petrochemicals to create a strong economic base for democracy to take root.

Some might call it a delay, but I believe it is part of a transformation process. A healthy economy is a prerequisite for a vibrant democracy. The welfare of the people is a must for security and stability to get entrenched. The recent increase in the salaries of Qatari state employees is part of the government’s efforts to equip its people for the transformation to democracy.

The Emir’s speech throws a challenge to both the government and the people. We don’t want to reach 2013 to find that there is a gap between the government’s vision and the people’s capabilities. Both have a responsibility to work together to achieve the nation’s goals.

In his speech, the Emir rightly mentioned that both the people and the government will be evaluated and held accountable for their actions and warned against the risks of spreading a culture of idleness.

On its part, the government needs to expedite the laws needed to hold the Advisory Council elections. They should prepare the people through social awareness and education. At the same time, the Qatari people have to rise to the challenge. The government cannot do it alone because the essence of the democratic process is the political participation of people.

The democratic experience that we have in the Central Municipal Council, already in its fourth term, will serve as a template for the future democratic experiments. However, we still need to prepare ourselves and educate our children about democracy. We can do this through a slew of activities like encouraging our children to be active in their school parliament and taking part in programmes such as Qatar Debate and Doha Debates, which can broaden our knowledge about democracy.

Some people say that Qatar is lucky since it is not affected by the global economic crisis and the Arab uprisings. What they don’t know is that the Qatari Spring happened in 1995. We are now reaping the fruits of our hard work. Qatar may be small, but its influence and impact outweigh its size and reaches beyond the Middle East region and into the global community.

The Peninsula