Omani taxi driver’s historic journey to Shura Council

Muscat: Aziz Al Hasni made history by becoming the first Omani taxi driver to make it to the country’s parliament, the Shura Council. Al Hasni overwhelmingly won one of the 85 seats for the seventh term of Oman’s Shura Council on October 25.

He bagged 893 votes, coming in second to represent Bausher province along with Mohammad Al Busaidi.

Al Hasni told Gulf News that he was confident of winning as he is popular with local people and is loved by the residents of the province.

“I had been a candidate in the two previous Shura Council polls. I didn’t give up as I have relentless determination, and I am loyal to my country,” said Al Hasni.

Al Hasni, who had been an employee at the Ministry of Sport Affairs for 20 years, resigned three years ago to start a new job as a taxi driver.

Driving a taxi, he insists, should not be a source of shame. It was his source of income and enabled him to meet the needs of his family.

He recalls his last day as a taxi driver — the day before the Shura Council election. He picked up a tourist from Muscat International Airport and took him to the Al Khuwair district.

He spent “not a single riyal” on his election campaign, he recalls, choosing instead to rely on the efforts of 25 of his friends, who worked day and night on his campaign. What got him elected, he says, was his closeness to the people of his constituency of Bausher, who for the past decade had been turning to him as a point man to convey their concerns to the authorities. Through this, he gained their trust, he said.

But Al Hasni now also promises to convey the concerns of those in his old profession in an attempt to regulate the profession with the aim of raising the drivers’ living standards.

For the past three years, Al Hasni has been taking the concerns of taxi drivers to the authorities, acting as their unofficial representative. Taxi drivers should be respected and supported by the society, he insists.

Al Hasni met a number of taxi drivers in Ruwi area of Mutrah province last week, who were demanding more regulations.

“I still work [with people in this] profession and I respect those drivers who work for 24 hours to put the food on the table for their families,” said Al Hasni, who described taxi driving as a strenuous job that needs lots of patience.

Among the issues he will raise as a new Shura member are the need to provide jobs to nationals as well as speeding up the procedures of granting plots of land for residents of Bausher.

Al Hasni will also focus on the owners of small businesses as they need more support and financial aid for their projects to grow and contribute to the national economy.

He stressed that he will work with other members of the council to restore what he sees as the lost trust between the council and nationals.

Asked whether he will still continue to drive a taxi, Al Hasni said that though his taxi service is sought by his clients he will mostly be focusing on his job as a Shura member.

The seventh Shura elections came at an historic time for the legislative body, which had been given more legislative powers in 2011. Those powers enabled the council to participate in the study of public budgets of the state, government projects as well as allowing ministers to be grilled about the work of their ministries.

The chairman of the Council will submit an annual report on its work to Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed.

The Omani Shura Council was established in 1991 to replace the Consultative State Council, which lasted from 1981 until 1991.

The Shura Council is the lower house of the council of Oman and has enjoyed some legislative and regulatory powers since 2011.