The political course set in Oman has yet to steady it's course before we can ask for any development in such a complex because of environmental factors, yet so simple in our minds, process.
At first, there was the forming of the Shura council in the Sultanate of Oman (that I unfortunately could not find any link to) after which, there was a formation of the State Council, of which, both were established under a Royal Decree that His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, Sultan of Oman, had issued sometime ago.
The State council members consists of His Majesty, the royal family, and the current ministers that hold the ministries in that time period. Whereas in comparison, the Shura council, is formed by the people for the people; in a way, that there are people who represent the different and Wilayats and regions all over the Sultanate of Oman - regardless of the tribe, secterial movement.
Sunday marked the first day that I attended a political meeting to submit votes for our area - Muttrah - for a suitable candidate. Although the process was meant to be very easy and quite straightforward, there were, nevertheless, several grievances from the crowd attending and it felt like you were sitting in a restaurant less than that in a place of election where you would see more order and less unnecessary noises from young folks amongst themselves.
There were questions as to why we were not allowed to hear what each candidate had to say for themselves as it is done all over the world, especially in the developed countries. There was also concern as to why we were not allowed to ask or discuss each candidates campaign - even though we had a basic idea of who each one of us was going to elect.
The overall feeling is that everyone else was trying to get things into the quick track so as not to lose time because everyone had their own 'thing' to be attending to. Which was quite disappointing, since this was a political meeting on which candidate was going to represent us; thus, meaning that our voice lays as in their hands to voice our concerns and suggestions over to the government in the council.
There is still hope that this process will develop furthermore, but until then, we will always have something to criticize about in this process of political development that our young country is going through.
Monday, February 12, 2007
the policy of political formation
Posted by Sleepless In Muscat at 00:19
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4 comments:
Im not sure that I get what you mean, so how do you vote if you dont know the politcal goals or how well that person will represent you?
Your question hits the right spot, Per Your Request.
But I forgot to mention that the actual meeting was done in a place of worship and unfortunately, local laws do not allow the speakers or candidates for that matter to talk about their campaigns to lure voters on their side.
Hope that has cleared some things up for you.
It's funny how history repeats itself here in Oman. Last year's elections were a farce. If anyone had any "inside" view...or even "not far outside" view, could have said the same. These elections, while have the intentions of being a seed in intellect of the "Omani Thinking Public", are a making a mockery of the world-wide free election system.
Being able to hear these "candidates" platforms of how they intend to reform and reconstruct their "areas" are of no consequence at this point. I feel that this is due to lack of organizational skills and education regarding electorial process.
Last year's election was based upon the "Omani feminist movement"....what will this year's fad be?
When will we realize that these elections have been put in place with a futuristic goal in mind...for the future of the Omani people and the betterment of their livelyhood? God help us that it won't take too long.
OmanForLife:
Here, here.
:o)
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