Shura Council Reaffirms Stance on Palestinian Question and Studies a Bill on Press and Publications
03 February 2020
The Shura Council held today its regular weekly session, under the chairmanship of His Excellency Mr. Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, Speaker of the Shura Council.
At the beginning of the session, H.E. The Speaker of the Shura Council congratulated His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani on the occasion of the precious trust accorded to him by His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the Qatar, "May Allah bless him" by appointing him as Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, expressing his hope to continue the fruitful and constructive cooperation between the Shura Council and the esteemed Government during the next phase.
His Excellency the Speaker of the Shura Council thanked His Excellency Sheikh Abdulla bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani for his efforts in serving the country and for his keenness during his tenure as Prime Minister to cooperate with the Shura Council and for following up the procedures to implement the Council’s recommendations.
On the other hand, His Excellency Mr. Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid Al Mahmoud reiterated Qatar's firm positions on the Palestinian issue, stressing that there will be no peace in the region, unless the full rights of the Palestinian people are recognized, first and foremost their right to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. His Excellency also confirmed that any peace plans that are incompatible with international law, resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab peace initiative cannot lead to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, and will only increase tensions and hinder the chances of a solution.
The Council continued its session and discussed a Draft Law Regulating Press, Publications, Publishing, Media Activities and Arts. The Draft Law contains (74) articles distributed over (12) sections. It contains provisions relating to the organization of the press, media, printing, publications, publishing houses, the circulation and distribution of publications, film and theatre houses, artistic production, private broadcasting stations, advertising activities, public relations and media service offices.
After the debate, the Council decided to refer the Draft Law to a joint committee comprising its Cultural Affairs& Media Committee and the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee for consideration and submitting a report thereon to the Council.
At the end of the session, H.E. the Speaker of the Shura Council briefed the Council on his participation on the head of the accompanying delegation in the work of the 15th session of the Conference of the Parliamentary Union of Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC, PUOICM) held in Ouagadougou, the capital of the Republic of Burkina Faso, from 27 to 30 January, as well as the meetings I held on the sideline of the conference with Hounrable the President of Burkina Faso and number of chairmen of parliaments of Islamic states.