The Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, issued on Wednesday a royal decree appointing members of the State Council, the second legislative chamber. The council consists of 86 members, including 18 women.
The Sultan also issued a decree appointing 14 members, including three women, to the Omani Human Rights Commission.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq also invited the Shura Council to hold its first extraordinary session, on Thursday, Nov. 9, to elect a president and two vice-presidents for the tenth term (2023-2027).
Women lost two seats they held in the Shura Council, as no female candidate was able to win membership in the 90-member Council during the elections on Sunday.
843 candidates, including 32 women, competed in the elections, according to the final lists of candidates. The total number of voters who registered for the elections reached 753,690 voters, of whom 496,279 male and female voters actually participated, a rate of 65.88 percent.
The appointed State Council and the elected Shura Council form the two legislative chambers, and together they constitute the Council of Oman.
According to its founding law, the Council of State is a legislative institution with a legal personality that enjoys financial and administrative independence. The Council consists of a president and members, who are appointed by a decree issued by the Sultan of Oman.
The State Council is entrusted with approving or amending draft laws referred by the government, proposing draft laws and referring them to the government for review and discussing draft development plans and the state’s general budget, along with other tasks.
