Muscat: With 713, 335 registered voters and 637 candidates including 597 men and 40 females vying for 86 seats in the 9th Majlis Ash'shura, the Sultanate's is all set to witness the biggest election process on Sunday.
The voting procedures which begin at 7 am will see 375, 801 men and 337, 534 women in all the governorates and wilayats queueing up to cast their e-vote to choose their representative in the 9th session of the Majlis Ash'shura.
Voting will be over by 7pm and the results are expected to arrive before midnight, according to the Ministry of Interior which is responsible for the whole election process.
To facilitate timely updates and prompt news feeds, the Ministry has established a News Centre at the Grand Hyatt hotel on Saturday.
The eighth Majlis Ash’shura was dissolved after the Royal Directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos to this effect and the ninth Majlis Ash’shura will convene in November after the elections.
The cut-off date for e-nominations to be made for the elections was February 21 and there had been an astounding response from the society, according to the Ministry of Interior.
The historic Shura march:
The Shura march in the sultanate began in the second decade of the Blessed Renaissance led by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, with the establishment of the Majlis Adha'wla (Appointed State Council) in 1981 and the establishment of Majlis Ash’shura (Elected Advisory Council) in 1991. Following years, it witnessed several stages of hard work and successive and continuous developments helping it play a key role in the national march towards progress and prosperity.
Majlis Ash'shura, the only legislative body in Oman of which all members are chosen through election among the people, has always been an active partner in the national decision-making and in taking forward the comprehensive national development initiatives thus reflecting integration between the state institutions.
The Majlis Ash’shura, during its consecutive sessions, has been keen on its legislative and oversight role in accordance with the prerogatives attached to it in implementation to the directives of His Majesty the Sultan which he stated before the Council of Oman in 2011.
The term of Majlis Ash'shura is 4 years and the last elections were held on October 25, 2015. The assembly consists of 86 elected members (till last term, it was only 85 but later, wilayat Liwa was given one additional constituency, hence the number shot to 86).
Every wilayat (province) of Oman with a population of 30,000 can have at least one representative in the assembly. In the other hand, Wilayats which have a population of more than 30,000 are represented by two members.
Speaking to the Observer, Sulaiman Abdurahim Murad al Zadjali, Member of the Preparation Committee for Shura Elections, said in exclusive interview, that voting right is a right of every citizen and one must utilise it to choose the right candidate.
"Voting right is a basic right of a citizen who fulfills the various conditions of eligibility to choose the person (s) who can represent them in the Majlis Ash'shura and attend to their needs as an Omani citizen and in formulating policies and national decisions", Sulaiman who is also the Head of Technical Committee for the elections said.
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