Qatifi Constitutional Referendum, 2016

The  was a constitutional referendum held in the Islamic Arab Republic of Qatif on the 27th October 2016. The referendum was intended to shape Qatif's political system in light of the Ba'athist-military coup d'état in August 2016, which brought Khaled al-Zaidi to power. The referendum was intended to entrench Ba'athist rule in Qatif by radically changing the nature of Qatifi democracy, as well as give more powers to the President. The referendum also intended to rename the country as the "Arab Socialist Ba'ath Republic of Qatif".

The referendum was approved by 88% of voters on a 96% turnout, thus passing the threshold of a 60% vote for on a 60% turnout. International observers condemned the referendum as a sham, and accused it of creating a de facto one party state in Qaitf.

Proposed changes
The referendum aimed to change radically Qatif's political system. The constitutional reforms aimed to abolish the post of prime minister and make the President elected from the Majlis and then approved in a referendum by the people. The reforms also mandated that the President should take up the roles of the prime minister, effectively making the president both head of state and government - however, the president unlike the Prime Minister is not required to be a member of the Majlis.

The referendum also mandated that the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Qatif Region should be granted a "privileged status". The Ba'ath Party would automatically make the up a third of the Majlis, wit another third being presidential appointees - in effect, reducing the elected representatives from 238 to 80. The electoral system was also reformed from to  voting.

The president is also required to be a Shia Muslim and a member of the Ba'ath Party. The country was also proposed to be renamed from the "Islamic Arab Republic of Qatif" to the "Arab Socialist Ba'ath Republic of Qatif".

International
"muh democracy"