Oman responds to concerns about vetting Shura candidates

Muscat: Oman has responded to controversy surrounding its banning of three current members of the elected Shura Council from running again for the next elections.

The Ministry of Interior last week blacklisted a number of candidates for the next election. Among those banned from running are current members including Salim Al Awfi, Humaid Al Nasri and Salim Al Mashani.

Omanis responded by launching a Twitter hashtag titled “Excluding candidates of Majlis Al Shura”, demanding that authorities clarify the reasons behind that.

Khalid Bin Hilal Al Busaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Chairman of the Main Committee for Majlis Al Shura elections to the Shura Council, said that the Ministry of Interior and the Main Committee had followed the interaction of a number of nationals since the announcement of the preliminary lists of candidates for membership of the Council.

Al Busaidi said that he was surprised that some candidates had spread inaccurate and exaggerated information.

He said 174 applications for the nominations were ruled out, in addition to one withdrawal case and one death.

Al Busaidi said that most of the applications that did not meet the requirements were due to involvement in a felony or crime involving moral turpitude — 45 per cent of the total rejected applications.

Another 23 per cent of the applicants had not applied in the specific time frame of the electoral register, while other 9 per cent didn’t have a General Education Diploma.

Article 58 of the Omani Basic Law stipulates that a candidate of Majlis Al Shura should be an Omani national by origin, of at least 30 years of age, never sentenced to a felony or crime involving moral turpitude or trust.

It also stipulates that the candidate should be on the electoral role, not affiliated to a security or military authority, not interdicted by a judicial judgement, and not suffering from mental illness.

Moreover, the National Commission for Human Rights affirmed that it received reports from the candidates who were banned from running in the next election, when their names did not appear in the preliminary lists last week.

The candidates said that they met all the requirements for Majlis Al Shura nomination. In Majlis Al Shura election law, those ruled out from the nomination cannot appeal, but they can submit their grievances to the Supreme Committee of the elections.

Oman has begun to prepare for elections for the next Shura (consultative) Council session of 2015 to 2019.

Seminars and conferences have been conducted to identify citizens who wish to run for the next elections as well as informing nationals about the importance of participating in these elections.

All the Omani governorates witnessed a huge turnout after 857 nationals applied as candidates. Among those are 21 women.

Only one woman succeeded in winning a seat in the 84-member council in the last elections in 2011.

Electronic voting

The next Shura number will have 85 seats instead of 84 after the Ministry of Interior decided to raise the number of Jalan Bani Bu Hassan members to two members instead of one, as the population of the province exceeds 30,000. By that, 24 provinces will have to two members representing them in Majlis Al Shura instead of one.

Furthermore, an official source at the Ministry of Interior told Gulf News that the voting will be electronic via touch screens. The official added that voting will also be confidential with the help of the electronic systems.

“None of the candidates will know who is voting for him”, said the official.

The official said that the Ministry of Interior is studying to apply a remote voting idea in the future nationwide.

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

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

Consultative Council members are elected from all the provinces of Oman.

Each province with a population of more than 30,000 elects two members, while a province with less than 30,000 elects one.

Observers believe that parliamentary work in Oman faces challenges and problems as it is still in the growth and development phase and needs more time.

Shura and democracy in Oman came in response to Omani society itself and not in response to factors or external pressure as in other countries, says Ahmad Al Marjibi, a parliamentary expert.