Shura Council calls for cutting cost of weddings

Members of the Shura Council on Monday stressed the importance of stable families, affirming that facilitating marriage and reducing its cost are crucial to establish strong and enduring families based on understanding and affection.In their statements during the session that reviewed the memorandum of the Council of Ministers General Secretariat regarding the proposal of the Cabinet on the aspects associated with marriage, they called for limiting extravagant appearances accompanying wedding parties, "which would later cast a shadow on the spouses, who have incurred debts and exorbitant costs since the start of their married life".Members of the Shura Council called the community to be guided by the ancestors in organising weddings in line "with the teachings of our Prophet Mohammed — peace be upon him".They pointed out that during the restrictions imposed on gatherings and parties during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Qatari community saw simple marriages devoid of costly and exaggerated appearances, which means that these activities can be dispensed with.They emphasised what the Cabinet demanded of the need to prevent any modifications to wedding halls, set a time for weddings, and prevent exceeding this time to reduce expenses and maintain security and safety requirements.The members noted the role of the media, civil society institutions, and all parties concerned in educating the community about the importance of facilitating marriages in order to build a stable family and reduce the negative aspects that burden families.The Shura Council expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the burning of the Holy Quran in Copenhagen, Denmark.This came during the regular weekly meeting yesterday in Tamim bin Hamad Hall under the chairmanship of HE Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah al-Ghanim.The Council stressed that the continuation of this behaviour at this particular time, during the blessed month of Ramadan, is a deliberate provocation and a grave insult to them.The Council warned that official authorities in a number of European countries allowing the continuation of these disgraceful behaviours have dire consequences that negatively affect the values of tolerance and coexistence.The Shura Council renewed its call for the need for international legislation to limit and criminalise those disgraceful behaviours that only lead to more discord, division, and hatred, saying that the Inter-Parliamentary Union in particular and the international community in general must take effective action to find legal formula that protects religions and sanctities from violation and abuse.In this regard, HE the Speaker said that the continuation of those provocative behaviours is an affirmation of the need to create a legal and legislative framework to protect religions, sanctities, and places of worship from abuse and desecration, to achieve peaceful coexistence and address hate speech.He added that this is what the Shura Council has repeatedly called for and was interpreted through calling — in the name of the Arab parliamentary group — to include that topic as urgent on the agenda of the Assembly of the IPU that was held recently in Bahrain, which was widely accepted and supported.On the other hand, the Shura Council agreed to extend the work of the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee to study a draft law on regulating real estate registration.