Shura Council elects new Chairman, members take oath  

Muscat: The extraordinary sitting of the Majlis Ash’shur on Thursday decalred Khaled al-Maawali as the Chairman of the Majlis Shura for the fourth time with an absolute majority of 58 votes.

A Chairman and two deputy-chairman of the Majlis Shura for the tenth term (2023-2027) were elected during the extraordinary sitting on Thursday which held in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

89 members out of 90 members casted their votes after one member abstained due to his health conditions after taking the legal oath.

Khaled al-Maawali secured 58 votes, Hassan al-Nabhani got 24 votes, Ahmed al-Balushi with 5 votes, and Ibrahim Al-Hadi received two votes.

The first round for the Vice President position didn't yield an absolute majority, leading to a second round where Taher al-Junaibi became the First Vice President with 47 votes, and Said al-Saadi became the second vice-president with 52 votes. The sitting, conducted with modern technology, adhered to the Council of Oman Law and emphasized the importance of the electronic voting system. The tenth term of the Majlis Shura aims to align with Oman Vision 2040, completing its five-year plan and contributing to national development through legislative actions.

The members of the Majlis Shura for this period constitute 63% of the new members, and the voting process was carried out using modern technologies as accuracy, speed, time saving, safety of procedures, saving costs and resources used are the most important features of the electronic voting system. The sitting was chaired by the eldest member, Abdullah bin Surur al-Kaabi, representative of Wiliayt Shinas, and two younger members assisted him.

The proceedings of the sitting began with a speech by Ahmed bin Mohammad al-Nadabi, Secretary-General of the Council and Secretary-General of the Majlis Shura. He stated that the Majlis Shura is completing tenth term with generous support and great interest from His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, based on what was specified by the Basic Law of the State and the Law of the Council of Oman, which include clear powers that are consistent with the vision of Oman 2040, the national orientations of the Sultanate of Oman, and a wealth of legislative work in its previous periods, praising his happiness for the success witnessed by the elections of the Shura members for this term and the effective participation of voters at a rate of (65.88%) of those registered in the electoral register, and what that reflected.

The experience in electronic voting is distinguished by its flexibility and the level of accuracy in the data and indicators, which constitute an important area for developing this process and building on it in the future.

The tenth term carries great importance at the national level as it coincides with the implementation of the Oman Vision 2040. Also, witnessed many important changes which is entering into the broader implementation of its Oman future vision 2040, and during this period it is completing its tenth five-year plan and charting the course of the five-year plan. Even it charts the course of the eleventh five-year plan, in which the Majlis will work to participate within the framework of its powers and roles, in a way that contributes to strengthening joint national action and the complementarity of roles between it and the government.

During its last term, the Majlis was keen to translate the objectives of the Oman Vision by strengthening the legislative structure. During the ninth term, it approved (55) draft laws and agreements referred by the government, and (11) proposals for projects submitted by the Majlis. In addition, to more than (900) is a follow-up tool used by its members to deal with national issues and files on various topics within the framework of its competencies.

The roles will be complete during its tenth term in a way that contributes to following up on the translation of the goals and programs of the Tenth Five-Year Development Plan, and participating in charting the path of the Eleventh Five-Year Development Plan and supporting it with visions and proposals, in a way that enhances the effective partnership with state institutions, and contributes to the integration of roles between it and the government in order to achieve national goals.