Regulations
ROYAL DIWAN
DIWANI DECISION NO. 15/2012
Promulgates the executive regulations of the Municipal Council depending on the Municipal Council law issued under the Sultan`s Decree No. 116/2011 and as per the public interest require.
*Article (1)
The provisions of the executive regulations of the attached Municipal Council Law shall be applied.
*Article (2)
This decree shall be published in the Official Gazette and put into effect the following day. Issued on : Jumada I 2, 1433 H, Corresponding to: March 25, 2012 GKhalid bin Hilal bin Saud Al Busaidi
The Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court
THE EXCUTIVE REGULATIONS OF MUNICIPAL COUNCIL LAW
CHAPTER 1
DEFINITIONS
ARTICLE (1)
In applying the provisions of this regulation, the terms and expressions provided herein shall have the meaning provided in in the law of Municipal Council as well as the following terms and expressions shall have the same meaning assigned to them respectively unless the context required otherwise:
Law:
Law of Municipal Council.
Committees of Municipal elections:
The committee formed within every Wilayat to regulate and supervise the Municipal Council elections.
Applicant:
The citizen who file an application for Municipal Council membership and shall be deemed as an applicant until he obtain the approval in question.
Candidate:
Everyone who may be approved to be a candidate for Municipal Council membership and enrolled on the lists of candidates.
Electoral Register:
The Electoral Register in the Ministry of Interior.
*CHAPTER 2
Functions of Chairman, his deputy and Secretary of Municipal Council
ARTICLE (2)
The Chairman shall be entitled to act as follows:
a- Calling the Council to hold a session.
b- Presiding the meetings of the Council and supervising its affairs.
c- Issuing the decrees which obtain the approval of the Council and following-up its execution.
d- Receiving the letters addressed or referred to the Council and all other matters to be reviewed and provide his feedback in the light of the estimation of Council`s members.
e- Preparing periodic reports about the Council`s works.
f- Any other functions may be entitled to him.
ARTICLE (3)
Deputy Chairman shall be entitled to act as follows:
a- Acting the functions entitled to the Chairman specified in Article (2) hereof during his absence.
Helping the Chairman in following-up the execution of Council`s decrees.
c- Helping the Chairman in supervising the Council`s affairs.
d- Other functions may be entitled to him by the Chairman.
ARTICLE (4)
The Secretary shall be entitled to act as follows:a- Preparing the agenda of the Council`s meetings.
b- Coordinating with the governmental authorities or other authorities which the Council call them to attend its sessions.
c- Preparing the minutes of meetings and decrees that issued by the Council with its final formula and serving them after its approval to the competent authorities.
d- Following-up the execution of the documentation, data and information required for the works of the Council and committees.
e- Coordinating with the governmental authorities in the manner that enable the Council in executing its functions.
f- Documenting all the correspondences addressed to the Council.
g- Receiving the suggestions of citizens and presenting them before the Council.
h- Managing and keeping the files and records of the Council`s works.
i- Performing any other functions assumed to him by the Chairman.
CHAPTER 3
WORK SYSTIM IN THE COUNCIL
ARTICLE (5)
The Council shall hold a regular session every month at least. The Chairman may call the Council to hold irregular session as per necessary or upon the request of three Council members and the Council shall not discuss any other issues except the issues that are in question.
ARTICLE (6)
The Secretary shall be responsible for preparing the agenda of the Council`s meetings and submit them before the Chairman to be approved.
ARTICLE (7)
Calling for holding the meetings of the Council shall be addressed to the members in writing before five days at least and may be sooner if there is an urgent. The agenda of the meeting shall be attached with this invitation.
ARTICLE (8)
The meeting shall be presided by the Municipal Council Chairman. In the event of his absence, his deputy shall act on behalf of him. These meetings that are hold during the attendance of the majority of members shall be valid and effective. If the quorum hasn`t completed by the date of holding the meeting, the meeting shall be delayed up to another date which determined by the Chairman.
ARTICLE (9)
Every member may provide, before certifying previous minutes of meeting, an amendment as he see and whenever a decree would be issued as an approval for this amendment, it shall be recorded in the minutes of meeting of this previous meeting. No correction or amendment shall be executed in the minutes of meeting after certifying it and the Chairman and the Secretary shall sign on this minutes after certifying and maintained in the session files.
ARTICLE (10)
Member`s feedback shall be provided in writing to the Secretary. The later shall be responsible for including them in the agenda as per the provisions of this regulation provided that these feedback shall be submitted before the date of agenda preparation with no less than two days.
ARTICLE (11)
Upon the request of the Chairman or a Council member before or after discussing any issue, the Council may defer action on this issue to another meeting to complete some information or having reviewed by a competent committee.
ARTICLE (12)
The decrees of the Council shall be issued according to the absolute majority of attended member votes unless otherwise required by the law.
ARTICLE (13)
The member may be free to provide any feedback within the limits allowed by law but the member`s speech shall not include indecent phrases or harm the public interest.
ARTICLE (14)
If the meeting become out of control and the Chairman is unable to settle this matter, he may adjourn the meeting for an hour. In the event that this issue still continue as it is, he may delay the meeting to another day.
Article (15)
The meeting may be held in secret upon request of the Chairman or three attended members. The member who wish the meeting to be in a secret session shall file a written application to the Chairman and the Council may determine upon its sole discretion to hold it in public or in secret.
ARTICLE (16)
Except the Chairman, Council members and Secretary, No one shall attend the secret meetings unless the Council has decided otherwise.
Article (17)
The reports and the minutes of the Council meetings shall be confidential. No one rather than the Council staff shall be informed or review them before obtaining the approval from the Chairman.
ARTICLE (18)
Voting for some topics presented to Council shall be public unless the majority of the members have decided to make voting secretly as necessary require.
ARTICLE (19)
Every member shall express his reservation towards any topic presented for voting and declare this reservation in the minutes of meeting.
ARTICLE (20)
In the event that the results of voting has shown the reservation of the majority of members or their refusal for voting in favor of a specific topic, another meeting shall be scheduled for discussing and voting this topic.
ARTICLE (21)
Any topic has been settled and the Council has issued a decree regarding it, it shall be reviewed and discussed only after a year from the date of the decree issued unless otherwise required by the competent minister or the Chairman.
ARTICLE (22)
No member shall not miss any council meeting without an acceptable excuse provided that he shall inform the Chairman about his absence.
ARTICLE (23)
The annual holiday for the Council shall be for two months determined by the competent minister as per the work conditions require.
*Chapter (4)
Committees
Article (24)
The Council shall form three respective committees among its members as follows:
a- Healthy, social and environmental affairs committee.
b- Public affairs committee.
c- Legal committee
The committee herein referred to shall be responsible for reviewing the topics provided by the Council and shall provide its suitable recommendations and feedback before presenting it to the Council.
ARTICLE (25)
The committee of Municipal affairs shall be formed under a decree issued by the Chairman in each Wilayat within the governorate and shall assumes its activities during the period of the council. It is formed by Wali who preside it and the membership of the following:
a- Director of the Municipality.
b- Representatives of Wilayat in the Council.
c- Four experienced people among the sons of Wilayat who shall be selected by the governor as per the suggestion of Wali.
The committee shall be responsible for reviewing and surveying the municipal topics in Wilayat, providing its recommendations to the Council and following-up the execution of the Council`s decrees.
The decree of the committee formation shall determine its work scope.
ويحدد قرار تشكيل اللجنة نظام عملها.
ARTICLE (26)
The rewards of the Chairmen of the Municipal affairs committees and its members shall be determined by the competent minister in every Wilayat within the governorate as provided in Article (25) hereof. For the representatives of Wilayat, their rewards shall be determined by the respective bodies.
ARTICLE (27)
The Council may form temporary committees by its members and may request help from specialists to take part into its activities. The council is entitled to determine the beginning and end of every committees works. Merits of the matter, feedback and the recommendations shall be recorded in the Minutes of meetings, however these committees shall provide a report about the results of its activities to the Council to take the necessary actions.
*CHAPTER 5
MEMBERS` RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES.
ARTICLE (28)
The member shall:
a- Attend the council`s sessions in its specified times.
b- Keep the confidentiality of the information he is informed with.
c- Leaving the session whenever any matter regarding him or any of his relatives from the first and second class is discussed directly or indirectly.
d- Avoid raising any matter during the session which is outside the functions of the Council.
e- Avoid utilizing his membership to gain personal interest.
f- Discuss the topics that are within the functions of the Council as per the approved mechanism hereof.
ARTICLE (29)
The member may request the following:
a- Discussing any matter related to the functions of the Council.
b- Any information or data related to any matter surveyed and discussed by the Committee and this request shall be in an official manner.
CHAPTER 6
ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS FOR THE COUNCIL
ARTICLE (30)
The expenses of the Council including the rewards specified under the provisions of this regulation shall be included within the budget of the governorate, Municipality of Muscat, and Municipality of Dhufar as necessary required.
ARTICLE (31)
The Chairman, his deputy, the member and the Secretary shall be granted a reward estimated by five hundred Omani Rial (50.000 Omani Rial).
ARTICLE (32)
The Secretary shall be responsible for following-up the administrative and financial procedures regarding the Council and its members.
*CHAPTER 7
COUNCIL MEMBERS ELECTIONS
ARTICLE (33)
Every Omani shall have the right to elect the Municipal Council members who represent the governorate if he met the following conditions:
a- He shall have 21 years old in the first day of January in the Election year.
b- He shall be enrolled in the Electoral Register as per the rules and procedures specified for this regard.
c- He shall record his Electoral Place in his identity card.
ARTICLE (34)
Any one has one of the following shall be forbidden from practicing election right:
a- Any person suffer from mental disease during quarantine .
b- Any person is under preventive detention and a person who prisoned under a verdict.
c- Any employee from the security and military authority.
ARTICLE (35)
The Ministry of Interior shall form a main committee for Municipal Council elections. Moreover, the Minister of Interior shall issue a formal decree for this committee formation and its functions.
ARTICLE (36)
A Committee for municipal elections shall be formed under a decree issued by the minister of interior in each Wilayat headed by the governor and two government agencies’ employees and one of the judges or public prosecutors in coordination with the competent authorities.
ARTICLE (37)
The municipal election Committee in addition to other terms of reference set forth in this Regulation shall hold the following tasks:
Making the necessary arrangements for the conduct of the electoral process in the state, and to directly supervise the progress its various phases.
B - Direct supervision for the elections’ sub-committees.
C – Working on overcoming the immediate problems and difficulties facing the electoral process.
d- Raising the preliminary results of the elections to the governor immediately upon the completion of the screening process.
E- Preparing the record of the electoral process ‘progress in the mandate, and raising it to the governor during a period of not more than two days from the end of the screening process.
H - Any other duties assigned by the governor.
ARTICLE (38)
Committee to Settle electoral grievances and appeals shall be formed under decree issued by minister of interior in each governorate from three judges or public prosecutors, and this will through coordination with the competent authorities.
ARTICLE (39)
Candidacy applications shall be submitted according to the model prepared for this purpose by the candidacy claimant or his agent during the period specified by the Ministry of Interior, and The applicant deliver a receipt acknowledging this.
ARTICLE (40)
The Municipal election committee shall examine the candidate’s applications and prepares reveal with their names together with its opinion, and submits it to the governor to review it in coordination with the competent authorities.
ARTICLE (41)
The names of the candidates set forth in the lists shall be announed after the initial approval of the Governor in a prominent place in the governor Office.
ARTICLE (42)
Any interested person may object the names set forth in the candidates’ preliminary lists in The Municipal electoral Committee within five days from the date of announcing these lists indicating the reasons for his rejections are based on, and deliver a receipt concerning this.
ARTICLE (43)
The Municipal electoral Committee shall issue its decrees regarding the objections against the names set forth in the preliminary lists of candidates within a week from the date of closing the objection date , in the event that it has approved the application of the objector then both objector and appealed against are informed in writing and then the list is modified according to that , but if it rejected this application, then the objector must be notified in writing with the rejection decree and possibility of bringing his complaint to the Committee on chap and electoral appeals for a to settle this issue within a week from the date of receipt, and its decision in this regard will be final.
المادة ( 44 )
Any candidate may withdraw his application for membership provided that it is two months before the date fixed for voting.
ARTICLE (45)
Voting shall be last for one day for all governorates, The Governor may determine a special day for voting as per the safety of voting and the public interest require and after coordination with the competent authorities.
ARTICLE (46)
Voting begins on the specified day for the election at seven o`clock in the morning and ends at seven o`clock in the evening the same day, and the governor has the right to extend the time to nine o’clock at night with substantiated decision.
ARTICLE (47)
Voting shall be under the voting form prepared for this purpose according to a standardized mechanism in all governorates to ensure voters casting to their ballots with integrity and transparency.
ARTICLE (48)
The candidates are arranged in descending order after the completion of the screening process according to the number of votes obtained by each of them, and the winner will be the one who got the highest number of votes and then followed by the number of members in each state.In case of equality in votes among some of the holders of the highest number of votes the screening committee conduct lottery among them in their presence or among their legal representatives , the winner is the one the lottery results came in his favor . Record shall be drawn so signed by the Chairman of the screening committee and its members and equal candidates in number of votes, or their representatives and is authorized from the Chairman of the Municipal Electoral Committee.
ARTICLE (49)
The Municipal Electoral Committee shall raise the results to the governor immediately upon completion of the screening process and no later than six o`clock in the evening of the next day to voting, the results are placed in a prominent place in the governor`s office after announcing , prepare a record with these results and sent with all resolutions and papers relating to the electoral process to the governor in a date not later than three days from the date of announcement of the results.
ARTICLE (50)
Any interested candidate has the right to contest the election result by request submitted to the governor within ten days from the date of its announcement in the Office of the Governor.
ARTICLE (51)
The Governor shall, upon receipt of the appeal referred to in Article (50) of this regulation, refer it to the Committee of the chap in electoral grievances and appeals. And the Committee should settle the appeal within a period not exceeding two weeks from the date of closing the appeal section, and its decisions are final.
ARTICLE (52)
If the chap committee settling the electoral grievances and appeals decided after considering that the results of one of the members of the Council are invalid, then he is replaced by the next in vote’s number from the date of issuing the invalidity decision.
ARTICLE (53)
Unless otherwise provided in this regulation, the same provisions and procedures prescribed for the Shura Council elections shall applied for the election of the Council members without prejudice to provisions of the law.