Muscat: The main committee of Oman’s Shura Council on Sunday night announced final results of the council’s elections.
The eighth council will have 85 members.
Na’ma Al Bu Saidi is the only woman among 20 women candidates to make it into the council. It will be her second consecutive term.
Thirty-year-old Ahmad Al Hadri from Salalah became the youngest member in the Majlis Al Shura.
Twenty-five members won a second consecutive term.
Tawfiq Al Lawati, Mohammad Al Bu Saidi, Sultan Al Abri, Yousuf Al Beloushi were among those previous members who won new terms.
However, 70.5 per cent of the Shura members are new to the council and most of them are relatively young.
The number of voters who registered to vote stood at 611.906, representing 25.8 per cent of the total population.
Approximately 30 per cent of the population, those below the age of 18, are not qualified to vote due to age limits and another 20 per cent were also excluded as they work in the military sector.
The turnout among citizens eligible to vote stood at 51 per cent, compared to 75 per cent in the previous term, a decline of more than 20 per cent.
The main Election Commission has announced that the voting process ended in all polling centres at 7pm on Sunday evening.
Women
The number of women candidates in this election dropped by half compared to the previous term.
Minister of the Interior, Hamood Bin Faisal Al Bu Saidi, said in a statement that the electoral process in Oman has developed in legal, procedural and technical aspects.
The most notable development this year is the formation of an independent Higher Committee for Elections, headed by a vice-president of the Supreme Court, to oversee the elections and the separation in the electoral appeals.
The Interior Ministry said it has not yet received any complaints so far regarding the election.
Those candidates who want to appeal have ten days starting from Monday.
Omanis lauded the efforts of the Ministry of Interior for the introduction of electronic voting on touch screens which is another new addition to this year’s elections. The electronic system aims to ensure the voting is conducted confidentially and with integrity.
