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Oman Consultative Council
In 1991 Qabus established the Consultative Council
(Majlis
ash Shura), a sixty-member body. The Consultative Council
superseded the fifty-five-member State Consultative
Council (SCC;
Majlis al Istishari lil Dawlah) created in 1981 with
significant
regional and popular as well as official representation.
Whereas the concept of consultation is an integral part
of
Ibadi Islam and the imamate, it was not a tradition
incorporated
into Oman's contemporary sultanate until Qabus ibn Said
established the SCC by royal decree on October 18, 1981.
Initially, the SCC consisted of forty-three members but
was
expanded to fifty-five in 1983 with representation of the
seven
geographic regions weighted according to population size
and
development needs. Nineteen members were government
officials,
and of the nineteen, eleven--undersecretaries of social
service
ministries--were the only permanent members of the SCC.
The
remaining seven government officials could serve a maximum
of two
terms (four years), as could other SCC members.
Like the SCC, the Consultative Council lacks
legislative
powers but plays a consultative role. Its representatives
come
from Oman's fifty-nine wilayat (governorates;
sing.,
wilayah). Candidates are selected by the
wali
(Muscat-appointed governor) and can be nominated by
friends or
themselves. After the nomination process, names of three
candidates are submitted to the deputy prime minister for
legal
affairs in Muscat, who selects the final candidates, who
must
then be endorsed by the sultan.
Unlike the SCC, members of the Consultative Council
cannot
include government officials or civil servants. Although
this
condition automatically excludes a pool of politically
experienced individuals, it is intended to circumvent
potential
allegations of conflict of interest. The inclusion of
eleven
undersecretaries in the SCC tended to strengthen it as a
body
codifying the status quo rather than offering legitimate
criticism and alternative policies. The SCC's
recommendations did
not include defense, foreign affairs, or the petroleum
sector. It
convened three times annually, with each session lasting
three
days to a week. The restricted format, infrequent
meetings, and
lack of veto power or legislative role combined to tie the
SCC's
hands. Despite these shortcomings, the news reports and
televised
broadcasts of the SCC exposed the public to a limited part
of the
government structure. It also modestly introduced the
concept of
accountability, although the ultimate authority of the
sultan
remained unquestioned.
The role of the new Consultative Council can perhaps
best be
understood in the framework of Oman's graduated
development
process. In 1970 Qabus ibn Said rejected a constitutional
monarchy and parliamentary system in favor of preservation
of the
status quo. Subsequently, the SCC evolved from an earlier
advisory body, the Council on Agriculture, Fisheries, and
Industries, established in April 1979. The council was
largely
successful in serving as an "outside" body offering policy
recommendations to the sultan and the ministers, although
the
scope of its consultation was relatively narrow. It was
abolished
in October 1981, and seven of its twelve members were
incorporated into the SCC. The Consultative Council has
modestly
opened the political system.
Data as of January 1993
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