An interesting turn of events

Women jilted in national elections

Yesterday, Oman held elections for the 6th term of the Majlis Al-Shura (Consultative Council; its forerunner was established in 1981, when the Sultanate was the first GCC country to give its male citizens the right to vote). On our way to class and throughout the day's errands, Liyam and I were listening intently to the play-by-play, center-by-center news of how smoothly this election is going and how, in general, Omanis are excited to go to the polls to exercise their democratic right to choose who is going to represent them in their government. Women in Oman were granted the right to vote in 2002 (again, the first country to do so in the GCC) and in that year's Maljis Al-Shura elections, two women were voted into the Council.

Today, we listened to the same radio stations (Arabic and English language), and all that was mentioned was that the processes had run smoothly. No mention of how many women were voted in. Just a few moments ago, when I was perusing through various news reports -- national, regional and international -- on the elections, I was slightly shocked to discover that no women were voted ... this time around.

An interesting turn of events indeed.

The majority of those Omanis who I heard interviewed on the radio channels were women, excited that they were voting for the women candidates from their wilayats. I, too, was excited, expecting some grand result that could prove to be quite useful for my research her, focusing, on the whole, on women's issues and empowerment in the Sultanate. Alas and alack, this was not the case this time.

But Oman is a young country, relative to others in what we call this "modern world," and the developments that it has experienced have been life-changing and beneficial. The Sultan has made deliberate efforts to develop the country - politically, socially and economically - but in a way that is true to Oman's national identity, in a way that Oman doesn't lose its culture or its awareness of its unique place in the world.

Until next time ...