DOHA: Two siblings might face each other in one of the 29 constituencies in the upcoming Central Municipal Council poll due on May 13. A preliminary list of nominees issued by electoral authorities yesterday show that five women figure on it among a total of 103 candidates.
And interesting as it might seem, three of these women have their first name as Fatima. The five women include the lone woman CMC member, Sheikha Al Jefairi, from Old Airport ward.
She is seeking re-election for the fourth term from her bastion constituency and is among 17 sitting members of the civic representative body whose names appear on the tentative list of nominees who are seeking another term.
The two brothers who have filed their nomination and whose names appear in the tentative list which will be finalised early next month, will be locked in a tussle with each other if none of them withdraws due to family or community pressure or the nomination of both or either is cancelled due to technical or other reasons.
Meshal Hassan Al Dhahnem and Ali Hassan Al Dhahnem might see facing each other in the Old Airport constituency in Doha in a triangular contest with the sitting member, Sheikha Al Jefairi, comfortably perched. No one has so far defeated her since she first fought the civic election in 2003. A lawyer by profession, she had won unopposed then.
The three Fatimas appearing on the preliminary list of nominees are Fatima Al Kuwari, who challenged Sheikha in the last election in 2011, Fatima Yusuf Al Ghazal (from constituency number 10, and Fatima Salem Jesaiman, from the 15th ward.
The fifth woman nominee, Amal Isa Al Mohannadi, will be pitched in ward No. 17. Fatima Al Kuwari is this time seeking election from constituency No. 9.
All the five tentative women candidates have filed their nomination from separate wards.
In two wards (5th and 28th), there is one candidate each (both men) and if they make it to the final list of contestants, they may be declared elected unopposed.
The CMC poll committee at the Ministry of Interior will hear grievances until March 25 and announce the final list of contestants on April 3.
The Peninsula
