MUSCAT, JULY 17 - The democratic path in contemporary Omani political life has been a strategic choice since the beginning of the Blessed Renaissance under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, Dr Khalid bin Salim al Saidi, Secretary General of the State Council, has said.
He was speaking to the visiting delegation of the 32nd batch of the Command and Staff College on Wednesday. Shaikh Ali bin Nasser al Mahrouqi, Secretary General of Majlis Ash’shura, also addressed them.
The visit enabled the delegation to get better information about the powers and roles of both the Councils (State Council and Majlis Ash’shura), its competences, role in national decision-making and know more about its active contribution to the overall development of the Sultanate.
Dr Khalid dwelt on the articles attributed to the State Council in the Basic Law of the State, which specify the number of its members, the appointment mechanism, the categories from which members are selected, the conditions of membership, the inadmissibility of combining them with the membership of the Majlis Ash’shura as well as the legislative and regulatory powers. In addition, he referred to the Council’s divisions, namely the Chairman, the Bureau, the Committees, the Secretariat and their respective functions.
Dr Khalid detailed the council’s terms of reference, legislative and supervisory powers and its role in discussing draft development plans and the State Budget, reviewed statistics relating to the council’s activities and achievements in the field of discussion of draft laws. For 2011-2019, it has totalled to 58 draft laws and the number of proposals and studies approved by the Council stands at 101.
Shaikh Ali bin Nasser al Mahrouqi spoke on ‘the tasks of Majlis Ash’shura’. He explained the shura process, its development stages, the legislative and supervisory powers granted to Majlis Ash’shura, which comprises approval of draft laws referred by the government and proposals of draft laws.
He also touched on the financial powers that include discussion of the draft general budget and development plans, draft economic and social agreements and the Annual Report of the State’s Financial and Administrative Regulatory body.
The Secretary Generals responded to all the queries raised by the delegation members. The delegation toured the premises of Council of Oman to get acquainted with the modern electronic technologies and facilities.
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