The submission of applications for the third term of the municipal council membership began on Sunday and will continue until June 2. The Ministry of Interior has revealed that those wishing to contest the forthcoming elections must submit their applications through the website "elections.om" after filling e-form designed for this purpose along with required documents.
The ministry clarified that the conditions for candidacy, according to Article 10 of the Municipal Councils Law, stipulate that a member who is not a representative of government agencies must be of Omani nationality, not less than 30 years, be of good conduct and behaviour, not have been ever sentenced to a penalty, or a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude or dishonesty, unless he has been rehabilitated, not been mentally ill or imprisoned by a court ruling, in addition to having an educational qualification not less than a General Education Diploma, to be registered in the electoral register for the wilayat of nomination, and not to work in a security or military authority.
The conditions include that the candidate must not be a member of any of the Councils -- State Council or Majlis Ash'shura, and not reside or work outside the Sultanate of Oman.
Municipal councils are specialised in municipal work and they provide opinions, suggestions and recommendations on everything related to service and development aspects and their development within the governorate, within the limits of the state's general policy and development plans.
The term of the council shall be four years, starting from the day following the date of the action of the decision to nominate its members. Elections for the new council shall be held within 90 days before the end of that period. Yet, if elections are not held during the mentioned period for any reason, the council will remain in place until the elections are held.
After the issuance of the Royal Decree No 116/2011 regarding the establishment of Municipal Councils and its executive regulations, the Sultanate of Oman achieved another milestone in democratic path, which came as a continuation of the previous experience of the Majlis Ash'shura.
These councils play an active role in various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman because of their competencies, which amounted to 30, as defined by Article 16 of the Municipal Councils Law.
The Ministry of Interior said that for Omani society to crystallise the desired goals of these councils, it must move realistically in democratic participation, and this can only be achieved through full awareness of democratic culture and leaving the theoretical aspect, which always tends to renew belonging to the family or tribe in such directions. These councils are an entity of society through which the society enhances its social, developmental, cultural and economic stability. Because of the cumulative experiences of electoral work in the Majlis Ash'shura over the past years, the citizen has acquired a decent culture to exercise his right to vote and to run freely in elections.
The goals are also achieved, according to the ministry, by empowering these councils by giving them more authority, such as fulfilling the ambitions of reducing administrative repetition and giving the governorates the powers of self-administration, and to implement the decisions and recommendations approved by these councils, and giving them the right to choose their chairmen and rapporteurs. All of these powers will contribute in the road ahead for them to reach the matured stage of the experience.
@zainabalnasseri
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
