90 members elected for Shura's tenth term

MUSCAT: Omani voters on Sunday elected 90 representatives of Majlis Ash’shura in its Tenth Term (2023-2027). No woman has made it to the country’s consultative council despite women’s intensive participation in the voting process.

The elected members represent 63 wilayats with two members for each wilayat whose population exceeds 30,000 (27 wilayats) and one representative for wilayats with less than 30,000 people (36 wilayats).

A total of 843 candidates stood for the elections which was held on Sunday for Omanis residing in the country via ‘Intikhab’ application. The number of registered voters who cast their ballots stood at 496,279, which was 65.88 per cent including 258,847 male voters, representing 52.16 per cent and 237,432 female voters, representing 47.84 per cent of the total number of 753,690 voters registered at the electoral register.

Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal al Busaidy, Minister of Interior, affirmed the keenness and attention accorded by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to the Shura march and his profound belief in citizens’ participation in the nation-building process and their contribution to the legislative developments which will lead to the realisation of the objectives set for the Council of Oman.

He praised the unprecedented development and modernisation the electoral process has witnessed in the Sultanate of Oman that resulted in the simplification of the election procedures and processes.

The minister said in a press statement: “Last year’s municipal council elections witnessed a qualitative shift that was reflected in Majlis Ash’shura. All the election process and procedures were conducted online with high accuracy via smartphone applications. In addition, many electronic services were launched including an online forum for exchanging opinions between society members, a service dedicated for communication between candidates and voters. This created an interactive environment that enabled voters to exercise their electoral right to choose their representatives in Majlis Ash’shura with complete ease.

The minister expressed his thanks and appreciation to all public and private establishments, heads and members of the electoral committees and to everyone who contributed or participated to the success of the electoral process and to all citizens who cast their votes in the elections inside the Sultanate of Oman and abroad.

The statistics provided by Intikhab application indicated that Al Batinah North Governorate registered the highest voting rate with a total of 94,809 voters, followed by Dhofar Governorate with 76,003 voters, Al Sharqiyah South Governorate (67,268 voters), Al Batinah South Governorate (59,815 voters), Muscat Governorate (51,627 voters), Al Dakhiliyah Governorate (50,851 voters), Al Sharqiyah North Governorate (45,011 voters), Al Dhahirah Governorate (16,502 voters), Al Wusta Governorate (13,234 voters), Al Buraimi Governorate (12,442 voters) and Musandam Governorate registered the lowest voter number with 8,717 voters.