Muscat: As the October elections for the Majlis Al Shura approach, candidates have been reminded against indulging in bribery and other such illegal activities to influence the elections.
As per the law for the Majlis Al Shura elections, Article 71 states that candidates who bribe a voter will have to face imprisonment between six months and three years and pay a fine between OMR1,000 and OMR3,000.
“One of those two punishments will be awarded to those who bribe or profit from bribery for a vote for himself or other candidates. Those who facilitate, promote or mediate the bribery will also be punished,” according to the law published on the Majlis Al Shura website.
Talib Al Amri, head of media, Ministry of Interior, said, “Last year and the year before that no complaints were filed in this regard. However, those who want to complain about someone trying to bribe them, should approach the Public Prosecution. After the Public Prosecution alerts us we will take action. If people are bribed they should also complain to the Public Prosecution.”
Al Amri said that rules are meant to ensure fairness and preserve the integrity of the election. He said, candidates must maintain the spirit of the campaign and respect the election process.
In other rules according to Article 69, imprisonment of 10 days to one year and a fine between OMR1000 and OMR4,000 or any of the two punishments is imposed on those who force their way into election centres or voting areas and either disrupt the voting process or cause harm to those monitoring the process.
The punishment also applies to anyone carrying a weapon to the election centres and voting areas, tampering with the ballot box, adding their own name or another name, and tampering with information on lists, apart from applications or statements to harm the election process, violating advertising regulations during campaigns, and impersonating someone to vote or vote more than once.
Slander and defamation of a candidate which could affect his or her votes, harming those who process votes and anything else that would affect the voting process, is also punishable.
Additional punishments are included in Article 70 which states that imprisonment between 10 days and one year and a fine between OMR1,500 and OMR3,000, or any of the two, will be given to those who write their name, the name of another person, remove or prevent a candidate from registering his or her name.
Those who destroy or conceal any document which could affect the election, as well as those who prevent or delay any operation which could affect the election process, can also be punished.
The Supreme Committee for Majlis Al Shura elections held its sixth meeting yesterday under the chairmanship of Sheikh Khalid bin Rashid Al Monawari, Vice President of the Supreme Court and the Chairman of the Committee in the presence of members of the Committee.
The meeting discussed the implementation of the decisions of the Committee and the preparations of the sub committees.
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