MUSCAT: The second annual session (2020-2021) of the ninth term (2019-2023) of Majlis Ash’shura will come to an end on Thursday (July 15), as per the Royal directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik and in accordance with Article (41) of the Council of Oman Law.
This was stated by Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed al Nadabi, Secretary-General of Majlis Ash'shura, on Wednesday.
The second annual session witnessed the issuance of the Basic Law of the State and the Law of the Council of Oman, which defined the relationship of the Council with the government and the legislative work procedures with the State Council, in addition to the internal work procedures in the mechanisms of managing the council’s sessions and standing committees. The law also allowed the council to formulate its bylaws in accordance with the law and the Basic Law of the State, Al Nadabi said.
Al Nadabi added that Majlis Ash’shura, during its second annual session, followed with great attention the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic since its outset. In March 2020, council submitted a number of recommendations to the Supreme Committee tasked with tackling the developments resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, including many proposals for addressing health, social, and economic conditions that affected the society, and those recommendations were accepted by the Supreme Committee. Besides, the council members contributed to supporting the fund dedicated to combating the impact of Covid-19. During the council's session with the minister of health held in January 2021 the council members discussed the most prominent efforts made by the Ministry of Health to handle the pandemic and the ministry’s efforts to provide vaccines.
The council activated a number of oversight tools with the aim of following up on the social impact of Covid-19 in the forms of questions and requests for briefing. The council members submitted a series of correspondences to the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) requesting the postponement of installments on borrowers. Besides, two urgent statements were discussed regarding the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic and proposals for developing mechanisms to handle the pandemic. The Health Committee hosted a number of officials from the relevant authorities, and as a result, a number of recommendations were raised to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, Al Nadabi said.
The secretary-general of Majlis Ash’shura indicated that the council during the second annual session held a number of coordination meetings with the Council of Ministers, based on the provisions of the Basic Law of the State and the Law of the Council of Oman and within the framework of cooperation and coordination between the two councils.
The secretary-general of Majlis Ash’shura stressed that the second annual session (2020-2021) of the ninth period (2019-2023) witnessed a notable achievement on the legislative level as a number of draft laws and follow-up tools were accomplished. The council held (14) regular sessions which saw the approval of 10 draft laws and agreements referred by the government, including the draft state budget for the fiscal 2021. Also approved were the draft amendments of some provisions of the Insurance Companies Law, the draft amendments to the Takaful Insurance Law. The council also discussed and approved the draft unified GCC Anti-Commercial Fraud Law, the draft Securities Law, the draft amendments of some provisions of the Civil Status Law, the draft amendment of some provisions of the Motor Insurance Law, and a draft amendment of some provisions of the Foreigners’ Residence Law the draft amendments to some provisions of the Records and Archives Law.
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