Qatar initiated a sudden poll on Tuesday to determine whether to discontinue its restricted voting for legislative seats, a move expected to be approved and terminate its brief trial of electing members to the advisory Shura Council.
The voting commenced amidst global attention on the U.S. presidential election, with even Qatar's state-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera briefly acknowledging the vote amid coverage of the U.S. and Middle East conflicts. Although Qatar's ruling emir announced the vote last month, the date of the poll was only disclosed on Sunday.
