Oman Announces Date for Municipal Elections

Photo Credit: Middle East Online

Interior Minister Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal al-Busaidi of Oman announced today that elections for Municipal Councils will be held on December 22. Roughly 1,636 candidates, including 49 women, will compete for a total of 192 seats in 11 municipal councils throughout the country in the first ever municipal elections in Oman. However, the councils will not hold executive powers, according to a decree issued by Sultan Qaboos last year that states the councils will “present recommendations regarding improving municipal services.” Dr. Hussein Shehadeh, in an article for Middle East Online, argues there is need for an “intensive awareness campaign … to enlighten [citizens] about the municipal council…[and] clarify why a particular person is selected and not another.”