MUSCAT : His Excellency Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister of Interior, said in the Royal directives reflect the commitment of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to ensuring sustained representation of Omani women from all governorates in the Shura Council.

The minister explained that 11 seats will be reserved for women, with one seat allocated to each governorate. Female candidates will continue to contest elections in their respective wilayats under the existing electoral framework and compete alongside other candidates for regular seats.

Under the new mechanism, the additional governorate-level seat will be awarded to the female candidate who secures the highest percentage of votes relative to the total number of voters in her wilayat, compared with other female candidates across the governorate.

The candidate with the highest vote percentage among female contenders in the governorate will be declared the winner of the additional seat and will represent the wilayat from which she was nominated.

The minister added that if a female candidate wins a regular Shura Council seat in her wilayat based on the standard electoral process, the governorate’s reserved women’s seat will remain available for competition among other female candidates within the governorate.

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