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March 05, 2005
A benevolent autocracy?
Qatar is a small country, but a very wealthy one. It is ruled by the Amir and a Council of elected Ministers and Tribal Elders, although, in reality, the majority of these are either family or allies of the Amiri Family. The present Amir (Emir in the UAE and in Kuwait, Amir in Qatar and Oman!) replaced the eldest son of the previous Amir who had ousted his father in a bloodless "family" coup, because the old Amir was holding back modernisation. The Heir then abdicated in favour of his younger brother, the present Amir, who is a Sandhurst trained and well educated moderniser. All the key cabinet posts are held by his brothers or nephews and the balance of power is nicely exercised by the need to keep the Tribal Family leaders onboard in all decision making.
The Amiri Diwan, or Palace, in Doha. In the foreground is the principle chamber where the Council meets, behind is the Amiri Palace.
We tend to forget that democracy is a Western invention and does not come naturally to any nation which does not have the same development and historical legacy as the West. The Amiri family were the Ruling Clan under the Ottoman Empire and remained so under the British Protectorate. Their brand of "democratic" government works in this environment. There are elections, they dictate the make-up of the Council and of the Local Authorities, but there are no "parties" as we would recognise them.
The population of Qatar is a bare 730,000 people, hardly the population of a small city in Europe, but it is also further complicated by the fact that only around 125,000 of those are Qatari! The rest are ex-patriate "guests" including Westerners, Philippinos, Indians, Pakistanis, and other nationals from all over the world. The Qataris, though, are a cheerful and tolerant people, and very pragmatic on a number of issues. They are also very, very wealthy!
The simple reason for that is that they hold the world's third largest (possible the world's largest) reserves of Natural Gas - 700 years worth! This comes ashore from their offshore fields at Ras Laffan where it is "scrubbed" of Helium, Ammonia, hydro-carbon distillates, and Hydrogen Disulphide and Sulphur, then liquified by chilling to minus 162*C and shipped abroad. The UK is one of the client states, with a recent deal to take gas in 200,000 metric tonne shiploads for the next 25 years. This will come ashore in the UK at Milford Haven, where it will then find its way into our homes as heating and cooking fuel.
Now comes the interesting bit. Under Islamic law tax is an evil, so the government takes the oil and gas revenues and uses these for the national development, for health care and education, and for the "forgiving" of loans and debts by the populace. As it is not lawful under Islam to "borrow" capital (actually, it is the charging of interest which is forbidden), the systems operates on a scheme whereby a would-be borrower agrees with a bank that they will buy a certain property or whatever, and he will "rent" it from them while saving at a fixed rate to repay the capital in an outright purchase. Twice since he took the throne, the present Amir has shared a bumper profit among his subjects by simply paying off all loans! No wonder he can take a stroll along the Corniche - the Doha waterfront - unescorted and unmolested!
Would it not be nice if some of our European and UK Chancellors did the same! Better check the temperature in hell; they are unlikely to follow this lead unless Hell has an ice age!
Crime does happen in Qatar, but it is rare - and there are few repeat offenders. Justice is swift, it is simple, it is effective - and it is seen to be done. There is occassional evidence of that Western scourge - graffitti - but it is rare, and anyone convicted of doing it is likely to suffer a public birching, or a short jail sentence and, in both instances, a hefty fine to pay for the damage. And the fine is collected in one hit, none of this nonsense of paying 50 pence a week for forty years.
Would I live there? With the right incentive, yes. It is not my culture, and I do not expect it to be, nor should I. If Christians in Europe and the rest of the developed world were as attentive to the tennets of their faith as the Arabs, we might have a very different society. Perhaps there is something we can learn from that, and perhaps there is something they can learn from us.
For the moment, though, it would seem that they have found a method of government which works for them. It will be interesting to see how it evolves from here. I found them friendly, funny, and eager to improve; I wish them every success in their quest.
Posted by The Gray Monk at March 5, 2005 10:24 AM