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DUBAI — Qatar will hold a referendum on an undisclosed date, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said on Tuesday, as citizens of the tiny Gulf emirate will vote on a set of constitutional amendments, including a proposal to abandon the election of two-thirds of the members of the advisory Shura Council, allowing instead for the hereditary ruler to appoint all its 45 members.

The Qatari Shura Council’s powers “will not be affected whether its members are chosen by election or appointment,” Al Thani said. The advisory body, established in 1972, provides advice to the ruler, has legislative authority and approves the government’s budget. Yet it has no say on the government’s defense, security, economic and investment affairs, or how the hereditary leader rules the gas-rich emirate. These issues are decided by the emir and ministers. Like Qatar, all other Gulf Cooperation Council countries have a legislative body, though they are largely powerless, acting chiefly as consultative bodies. 

The emir’s push to scrap the short-lived electoral system would undermine Qatar’s efforts to grant citizens some degree of representation in the political scene. Since Qatar, like all GCC monarchies, bans political parties, the last bastion of political representation left would be the municipal council, if the country abandons Shura Council elections. Established in the early 1950s, the municipal council is made up of 29 elected members who make recommendations and issue decisions on municipal affairs, according to the Government Communications Office.