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Gulf Sanctions Against Qatar
Qatar's ruling emir said Tuesday his small, energy-rich nation will hold a referendum on ending a short-lived experiment in electing members of the country's advisory Shura Council. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani offered no immediate timeline for the referendum in an annual address to the Shura Council, which drafts laws, approves state budgets, debates major issues and provides advice to the ruler. The body does not have sway over matters of defence, security and the economy. However, it marks yet another rollback in the hereditarily ruled Gulf Arab states in its halting steps to embrace representational rule, however tentative, following efforts by the United States to push harder for democratic reforms in the Middle East after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks and hopes for democracy in the region rose in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring. From its perspective, Qatar saw the one-time 2021 vote likely as increasing tensions between tribes and families in the country just months after a .