Abstract
The 2016 Omani Municipal Council election was held in the backdrop of the economic problems facing the Gulf States due to the decline in international oil prices. Hence, the cut in social security and continued concerns over economy were major issues. This was partly responsible for a low turnout, though a free and fair election was an important takeaway. In comparison to the previous municipal council election, more female candidates were elected and joined the council in 2016. Whereas various encouraging developments can be assuaged including the evolution of the electoral process, growing participation of women, and use of new state-of-the-art technology, the pace of democratization remains painfully slow.
The elections in Oman are a significant link between the people and government, and the evolution of electoral process has ensured people’s participation in policymaking. Although the first elections in Oman were held in November 1991 for the 59-member Shura Council, the concept of election is not new to the country. The history of elections in Oman can be traced from ibadism, 1 which encourages governing bodies to take decisions through consultation. Since 1991, Oman has successfully organized eight Shura Council elections and two municipal council elections. Elections have played a vital role in stabilizing the country and providing “institutional feedback mechanism” through which citizens can communicate their grievances to the government (Weiner, 2017).
On 22 December 2012, the electoral process achieved a new height when the country organized its first municipal elections. It registered a positive response and the voter turnout stood at 50.3 percent. However, in the second municipal elections held on 25 December 2016, the participation dropped drastically.
Evolution of Municipal Council in Oman
The history of municipal council traces its roots to the 1920s when the first administrative organizations became known to carry out community works such as cleaning and the organization of markets and buildings (Government of Oman, 2016). In this context, in 1938, an administrative organization was formed in Muscat and Mutrah to manage streets and houses. In 1939, the first municipal council was appointed in Muscat and in the same year, a branch of the municipality was established in Mutrah. Thereafter, in June 1972, Mutrah municipality and Muscat municipality were amalgamated and specialized departments were established. The names of these municipalities were changed to Central Municipality and later on Muscat Municipality in 1988. In order to allow the municipality to perform an efficient role, essential amendments were carried out in 1976. These amendments also widened the geographical areas of municipality covering Muscat, Mutrah, Ruwi, Bausher, Seeb, and their suburbs. The council was given additional rights to be able to issue local orders that would allow the executive body to perform its duties (ibid.).
In 1975, a legislation with regard to reorganization of the capital, known as “the law number 4 for the year 1975” was passed. This law gave municipal council an autonomous character and financial status. “It also unified the leadership of the Municipality (in its legislative and executive divisions) in the Municipality President and expanded the period of the Municipal Council to four years instead of two” (ibid.). In March 1984, the supervision of Muscat Municipality was transferred to the Diwan of Royal Affairs.
In 2011, in response to Arab uprising inspired protests in Oman, Sultan Qaboos promised to “execute political and economic reforms, such as conceding legislative and regulatory powers to the Majlis al-Shura and increasing unemployment benefits” (Central Intelligence Agency, 2017). These changes were significant for the establishment of well-organized municipal councils. Sultan Qaboos through a royal decree formed 11 elected municipal councils with uniformed governing structures. Accordingly, the size and the numbers of representatives had to be decided by the population of the province. These elected members “have the power to issue opinions and make recommendations to the appropriate ministerial representative on matters of importance to the province and its residents. If a representative objects to these recommendations, the council can refer the matter to Oman’s National Council of Ministers” (Weiner, 2017).
Although the municipal council functions as an advisory body, it permits nationals to talk about the political issues through a formal institutional channel. According to Scott Weiner (2017), “the councils effectively serve as an early warning system for dissatisfaction with government performance, allowing ministers to address grievances and thus create buy-in to the state’s institutions” (ibid.).
Municipal Elections in Oman
The first municipal council elections were held in Oman in the backdrop of the wider protests in the region on 22 December 2012. Oman was not immune to the Arab Spring that spread in most of the part of the Arab world since 2011. The protests were largely peaceful and focused on labor reform rather than bringing down the government. Along with the other demands, demonstrators also sought better civilian involvement in the government.
The municipal council elections in Oman were a response to these demands of protesters. It was an effort to release social tension and maintain stability. The Omani government hoped to utilize these initiatives to avert social and political disturbance that has affected the wider Middle East. The municipal council elections were a well-calculated move to decentralize authority and allow larger public participation in local governance.
In the first council election, 546,000 Omanis queued up in polling stations across the country to cast their votes. The share of the total voter turnout stood at 50.3 percent, out of which 61.3 percent were male voters and 38.1 percent were women (Table 1; Opemam, 2017). In comparison to Shura Council elections of 2011, the voting turnout in the municipal council election was little low. In the Shura Council elections, it stood at 76 percent.
Municipal Council Elections in Oman
Municipal Election, 2016
The second municipal council elections were held on 25 December 2016 amidst economic problems. The continuous low oil prices had burdened Oman’s finances, which is largely dependent on oil and gas exports. Because of difficult economic situation, Oman’s outstanding debt reached US$19.2 billion by the end of 2016. Even the unemployment rate marginally increased to 17.5 percent in 2016 from 17.3 percent in 2015 (Trading Economics, 2016). Moreover, the government had increased the taxes, and the prices of fuel and electricity. In such a situation, the government conducted the second municipal council elections.
According to Ministry of Interior, the total number of registered voters in 2016 stood at 623,224 including 333,733 men and 289,491 women, with an increase of 100,000 from the previous elections (Al Mukrashi, 2016). During the elections, 623,224 voters cast their ballot to select from 731 candidates, who were contesting for 202 seats in municipal council. The candidates also included 23 women. For the efficient conduct of elections, 107 election centers were set up nationwide, “including 18 centres for men, 18 for women and 71 centres for both men and women” (ibid.). While talking with media, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior and the Head of the Organizing Committee of the election, Khalid Al Busaidi said that “the election process went very smoothly without any obstacles” (ibid.). According to him, the elections were transparent and supervised by the judiciary.
The second municipal council election registered low voter turnout at 39.83 percent, declining from 50.3 percent voting in the 2012 elections. The majority of the voters who participated in the election were from 25 to 35 years age group. The voter turnout was 39.85 percent, which comprised 63.2 percent male and 36.8 percent female voters (Kothaneth, 2016). It was fascinating to know that before the elections, an additional 100,000 voters registered to participate in electoral process. The election also brought 143 new faces to the council, while others had been elected for the second time.
While addressing the issue of low polling, Al-Busaidy said, “it is too early to say the turnout is low as this is only the second term.” He further noted, “the role of the municipal councils will grow in the future” (ibid.). Despite the low voter turnout, regionally, this still represents a relatively high participation rate, as similar municipal elections in Saudi Arabia in 2015 saw only 25 percent turnout.
Participation of Woman
The elections have provided a platform to women to participate in the electoral process as well as politics and women have registered progressive participation in politics. Oman opened the doors of its political system for women in 1994, by giving them the right to vote and contest in electoral politics (Kumar, 2016). Oman is the first Gulf monarchy to provide universal adult franchise to women. Since then, women are making small but significant leaps in Omani politics. However, the first female minister in Oman, Sheikha Aisha bin Khalfan bin Jameel al-Sayabiyah, was elected nearly a decade later. She was the first woman to be “appointed as a minister in any of the other five Gulf Co-operation Council states—Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar” (BBC, 2003).
However, the results of 2016 municipal council elections show that perception regarding the participation of women in the politics have been changing in Oman (Table 2). In 2016, seven women elected representatives joined the municipal council as against four—Al Shaima bint Ali bin Ibrahim bin Shonoon Al Raisi, Sana’a bint Hilal bin Salim Al Mashariyah, Fatima bint Nassir bin Said Al Sinaniyah, and Mooza bint Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hosaniyah: who were elected in 2012 (Al Mukrashi, 2016). The names of seven women elected to the municipal council in 2016 are Mariam Al Shamsi and Latifa Al Manei, Sana Al Mashari, Amna Al Beloushi, Rahma Al Ghufaili, Moza Al Hosni, and Rahma Al Nufli. However, the total number of women candidates in 2016 elections registered a decline from 46 in 2012 to 23 in 2016.
Participation of Women in Municipal Council Elections
In 2016, all seven elected female representatives faced significant competition in their respective constituencies. In Mussanah, Rahma Al Noufli won a seat competing against 12 men and this was unanticipated (Weiner, 2017). The interesting part of the election result was the provinces from which these women originate.
In 2012, all elected women were from the Muscat capital region. However, in the 2016 elections, they came from Buraimi, North Batinah, South Batinah, and Muscat. According to Scott Weiner, “these provinces are all in the northern industrial region of Oman, and many voters in these districts have interaction with people living in and around Muscat” (ibid.). Women’s success in these provinces highlights their acceptance to hold political office by people of these provinces.
Use of Technology
The 2016 municipal elections witnessed the use of new state-of-the-art machine to ease the electoral process. It was the first time when hi-tech machines were used to calculate votes in a quick, easy, and more transparent manner. The voter only had to insert the ballot paper with a tick marked next to his or her chosen candidate’s name, which was available in all election centers nationwide. The main reason behind the use of these electronic machines was to conduct elections in a more structured and precise way. While highlighting the utility of these machines, the Ministry of Interior said, “The new technology will help save time once the voting is over. We typically finish counting of the votes by 3 am but with this new technology, we will be able to finish before midnight as the machine will automatically count the votes” (Times of Oman, 2016a). He further stated,
Voting forms were also placed in a special box that was provided with a system, which reads and sorts out the forms electronically. Many measures were also in place to facilitate the casting of votes by voters and ensure full transparency and accuracy of the election process, as planned. (Times of Oman, 2016b)
Conclusion
The results of second municipal council election highlighted the constant declining voter turnout. Since 2012, it is failing to attract citizens to polling centers, the only exception in this regard was 2011 Shura Council election when voter turnout was 76 percent. In 2016, it reached to its lowest level (39.3%). A reason for voter apathy can be non-legislative advisory role of municipal council in the policymaking. The results of 2016 elections were disappointing as voter turnout registered a significant drop. Moreover, as was seen in the eight Shura Council elections, lack of interest among the citizens to contest in the elections can also be noticed, as the number of candidates fell drastically from 1,475 to 731 in 2016. The takeaway though has been the increasing participation of women. An analysis of election results in Oman has highlighted that the Shura Council elections (2011) were the only election in which Omani citizens’ participation was high. Otherwise, there was no major shift in the people’s participation in the elections.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
This article is a part of the project on “Elections and Democratization in the Arab World” supported by Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and the author acknowledges the support from the University.
1.
Ibadisim is the dominant form of Islam practiced in Oman.