Omanis go to the polls

Polling for the election of members of the Omani Consultative Council for the fourth term (2001 to 2003) began Thursday.

Under-Secretary of the Interior Ministry Mohammed Bin Sultan Al-Busaidi said 65 per cent of the 114,567 registered voters in the Sultanate of Oman were expected to cast their votes from 7am to 7pm in the first direct election.

He said that under the amendments to the election procedures in May, the candidates garnering the highest votes would automatically be elected council members, thereby doing away with the selection procedure practiced in the past.

Wilayats or provinces with a population of more than 30,000 will elect two representatives while those with less than 30,000 constituents will elect one representative.

Some 50 per cent of the candidates, which included more than 20 women, were newfaces, he told a news conference attended by some 25 foreign journalists specially invited by the Omani government to observe the election.

Mohammed, who is also president of the Main Election Committee, said 114 candidates had earlier been disqualified from contesting for various reasons. However, he did not specify the reasons.

Asked whether any foreign observers were invited to witness the election, he said: "No foreign observers. But, we have foreign journalists here. We have trust in you (foreign journalists) to write an honest report."