Omanis called to participate in building their country; Shura new election, Interior Minister
Oman, Politics, 2/6/2003

Sayyid Saud bin Ibrahim al-Busaidi, Oman's Interior Minister, has said His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said's orders to allow all citizens who are 21 year or older to participate in the elections of Majlis A'Shura as fromÊ the forthcoming fifth term election, came in implementation of the Royal policy of giving all sons of Oman the opportunity to taking part in the processes of nation building and development, Oman's official news agency ONA reported yesterday.

ONA said: In a press conference at the press club today, the Minister said all citizens who reach 21 year would participate in the elections and, contrary to procedures in the past elections, no specific quota will be set for the sons of the wilayat who will be entitled for participation.

ÊÊÊÊ The Minister said the royal directives stipulate that judicial supervision of the election process is to be upgraded. In pursuit of that, the Minister said, the elections main committee will include the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice, and two deputies of the President of the Supreme Court.Ê

ÊÊÊÊ Another feature in the new system of the elections is that there will be no limit (percentage) on the number of women who can take part in the election and all women may exercise the right of participating in the process in appreciation of their basic and prominent role in society andÊ development efforts.

The Minister of Interior said the Majlis A'Shura fifth term elections establish basic principles that include enhancing the election process, expanding participation and ensuring neutrality and fairness.

That, he added, requires applying all necessary procedures to attain the set objectives.

Sayyid Saud said the Ministry of Interior, in implementation of the Royal directives on the new elections, worked on two levels; legal and procedural organization.

At the legal level, the Minister said, the regulations of Majlis A'Shura elections were revised and new draft regulations were prepared. "The new approved regulations which will govern the new elections will be issued soon," the Minister said.

At the legal level, he said the Ministry took a number of measures to ensure greater participation by simplifying the voting process. These included establishing an electoral register at the General Diwan of the Ministry to compile an electoral data base that would offer a true picture of all that is to be related to the election process in terms of the number of voters and their constituencies.

The data base will also help prepare electoral lists for each wilayat for reference in case of change in number of voters.

The Minister said this type of procedures will also include preparation of voter registration form which will carry basic personal information about the voter and will feed the elections register with relevant data and information.

The voter will obtain an election card to cast his/her vote on the basis of the information contained in the registration form which will be distributed in March.

The Minister said the procedures also included classifying wilayats in terms of representation in the Majlis. In this connection, he affirmed no change will be made on the number of Majlis A'Shura members (83 members representing 59 wilayats).

The Minister said a computer system will also be introduced in the election process. He said a time table was set for the voters registration and applying for candidatures. He added registration of voters will start in all wilayats as from 1st March and adequate number of forms would be distributed before that date. He said the door for nominations for candidacy will be open for two weeks from 29th March to 9 April.

The Minister urged citizens to participate effectively in the next elections to choose their representatives in the fifth term of the Majlis which will commence on December 2003 and last for three years.

The Minister said that would enhance the image of the nation and consolidate democracy in the Sultanate in the way that is envisioned by His Majesty the Sultan.Ê

ÊÊÊÊ Sayyid Saud said the Ministry will launch an expanded publicity campaign in March to explain the Majlis' new election process and the campaign would include visits to ministries, government units and other institutions in which employees who constitute a large portion of the electorate work. The visits will also be made to venues of Omani women associations, clubs and commercial complexes. The Ministry will also maintain an elections website on the internet.

The Minister said each candidate has the right to contest the election result and lodge his complaint with the wilayat election committee during a period of time specified in the elections regulations. After that, he said, the complaints could be made to the elections main committee.Ê

The Minister said all electoral committees include judges as members. He said reelection will not be held and candidates who feel dissatisfied with the balot results may lodge complaint with the committees.

In reply to a question on the extent to which Omanis comprehend the elections process, the Minister said Omani people did absorb Majlis A'Shura elections method and the Sultanate has 12 years of successful experiment in holding such elections. He added the improvements made in the forthcoming elections came as a result of benefiting from the experiment of previous elections.Ê

ÊÊÊÊ The Minister said it was not necessary for the candidate to resort to campaigning for himself as the Omani electorate is small in size. He said all members of the consistency electorate could meet in the Sabla (public place) where the candidate could introduce himself and his qualifications and what he plans to offer if elected to the Majlis. The Minister said women who stand for election may also go to the Sabla besides to Omani women associations.

The Minister said the Ministry would not intervene in the election process and voters enjoy full freedom to elect their representatives without being subjected to any influences. He said tribal affiliations would have no role in the forthcoming elections and the best candidate would win.

The Minister of the interior said he was sure the elections procedures the Ministry will apply in the elections would encourage voters to go to the ballot boxes and choose representatives who would serve the nation first.

The Minister expected that 822,000 voters out of a total of 1960,000 Omanis (the entire Omani population) would cast their votes in the election and added special forms would be sent to the Sultanate's embassies so that members of Omani communities in foreign countries could take part in the elections.

The Minister said member of Majlis A'Shura must be completely independent from the government and his relation must not be with the government but with the wilayat and the citizens he represent. "That means he must not be a government representative in Majlis A'Shura," the Minister said in reply to a question on whether a member who is not reelected for a second term could return to his work.

The Minister said each country has its own election system and the Sultanate opted for gradual progress in developing Majlis A'Shura elections and establishing democracy and added he was happy at what has been achieved so far in this respect.

The Minister praised similar Shura and parliamentarian experiments in AGCC states and said the Sultanate support the methods adopted by peoples in the region to institutionalize the Shura principle.

The conference was attended by Shaikh Abdullah bin Shuwain al-Hosni, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information and Ministry of Interior officials.

Previous Stories:
  Sheikh Zayed ratifies border agreement with Oman   (1/28/2003)
  Muscat: right to vote for all Omani citizens in 2003   (11/28/2002)
  Results of first direct election results, 2 women and 81 men win   (9/16/2000)
  Omanis go to the polls   (9/14/2000)
  579 candidates with 23 women competing for Omani Shura elections tomorrow   (9/13/2000)

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