MUSCAT: Preparations for the elections of members of Majlis Ash’shura 9th term are underway this year amidst the achievements of this Shura march in the country. February 21, 2019, was the deadline for submitting nomination e-applications for the election of members who meet the requirements. The Ministry of the Interior announced the start of registration in the electoral register for citizens who are entitled to vote.
The Shura march in the Sultanate has been marked by several stages of hard work, beginning with the second decade of the Blessed Renaissance led by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, with the establishment of the State Consultative Council in 1981 and the establishment of Majlis Ash’shura in 1991.
The Omani Shura march has witnessed successive and continuous developments over the past years.
Its institutional system has been operating in two chambers: the appointed State Council and the elected Majlis Ash’shura together under the umbrella of the Council of Oman, each enjoying legal personality and financial and administrative independence.
Article (9) of the Basic Law of the State defines the overall values and the basic elements of the system of governance in the Sultanate.
It stipulates that the ruling is based on justice, consultation, equality and the right of citizens to participate in public affairs. Article 59 stipulates the principle of the rule of law.
Article (10) puts the basic principles guiding the policy of the Sultanate, including: Laying suitable foundations for consolidating the pillars of genuine Shura emanating from the heritage of the Nation, its values and Islamic Sharia, taking pride in its history and adopting the useful contemporary means and instruments, including establishing a sound administrative system that guarantees justice, tranquillity and equality for the citizens and ensures respect for the public order and the preservation of the supreme interests of the State.
The Royal Decree No 94/91 established Majlis Ash’shura on November 12,1991, marks the beginning of the third decade of the blessed Renaissance, to continue and develop as stated in the speech of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos within the framework of the established principles that guide the policy of the Sultanate under the leadership of His Majesty, the most prominent in this field (Laying suitable foundations for consolidating the pillars of genuine Shura emanating from the heritage of the Nation, its values and Islamic Sharia, taking pride in its history and adopting the useful contemporary means and instruments.
With regard to the parliamentary tools in which the Council works, the members of the Council have had a great contribution to their use of those tools, which has created a tangible development in the practice of Majlis Ash’shura. There is no doubt that the response of the executive authority to the Council is remarkable and valuable and its importance is reflected positively on shaping the supervisory role of the council, and its cooperation with those executive bodies.
This response applies the methodology of the Sultanate, which is the complementary role of all legislative and executive organs of the state for the benefit of the homeland and the citizen, especially as the
Sultanate has achieved the completion of many development projects.
Thus it is important to work to protect them in accordance with the procedures followed in order to achieve the interest of the homeland and the citizen.
In its previous terms, Majlis Ash’shura conducted many studies and researches, as well as studied and discussed many subjects, draft laws and conventions referred to the Majlis, or those submitted by the Majlis after its approval.
While the members of Majlis Ash’shura are elected by free election by the citizens for the representatives of their wilayats, the chairman of the Majlis Ash’shura is elected from amongst the elected members. This has been done since the 7th term of Majlis Ash’shura.
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has given the democratic process in the Sultanate its real dimension through the Majlis’s exercise of its powers.
The last eight terms of Majlis Ash’shura have witnessed a practical exercise of the Shura approach and through the democratic tools of the Majlis, through dialogues, discussions, study of draft laws and the submission of proposals.
The parliamentary proposals and questions addressed to governmental bodies by the Majlis members have had a positive effect on solving many issues and avoiding a number of difficulties and obstacles that impede the conduct of certain procedures for citizens, whether in the government sector or the private sector, through communication between the Majlis and the concerned sectors and the emergence of consensus views. The Majlis had that good and tangible impact on all parties.
The elections of the members of Majlis Ash’shura in the Sultanate have received the attention and follow-up of many regional and international analysts and observers as an important turning point in the history of Omani, Arab and regional democracy due to the significant changes witnessed by the parliamentary practice in the Sultanate since the beginnings of the Blessed Renaissance, which followed a constant and insightful vision of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, which takes into account the state of progression from the consultation to Shura to the supervisory and legislative roles, as happened in the last two terms and the current one of the Majlis. — ONA
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