DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Oman’s sultan on Monday announced an upheaval of the Gulf constitution with changes including the appointment of a crown prince for the first time and steps to promote government transparency, the state – run news agency reported.
The move, one year after the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who dragged Oman into modernity and deftly navigated the region through sectarian and political divisions, comes as the government comes under increasing pressure at home. The constitutional amendments bring the iconoclastic Oman into closer alignment with other Gulf sheiks and dispel fears of any destabilizing succession crisis in the future.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, the former Minister of Culture, came to power last year amid intense speculation that gripped the sultanate after the death of his cousin, who left no heirs. His name was written in a sealed envelope left in the Muscat Palace.
Now there will be no mystery or stormy plays. Sultan Haitham, who has quietly made his mark over the past year by renaming and reorganizing ministries once ruled by his predecessor, changed the basic law of Oman to provide for the appointment of a crown prince, the successor practice of each other Arab Gulf state.
Monday’s announcement did not specify who the crown prince would be or what responsibilities he would have.
“It’s revolutionary,” said Bader al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University studying Oman. ‘It took (Sultan Haitham) a year to absorb everything, and now he’s pushing on with his own stamp. You do not change the basic law gently. ”
The sultan’s decision also creates a committee to monitor and evaluate the performance of senior government officials. This is an apparent attempt to encourage transparency and accountability, as the country struggles to borrow after credit agencies listed its debt as ‘junk’, which means a higher risk of default. The debt was at about 60% of Oman’s gross domestic product last year.
Earlier this month, Oman’s state-run news agency announced that the country expects a $ 2021 budget deficit of about $ 5.7 billion, and plans to incur more debt and pull out of its reserves to close the gap. The sultanate, which produces just under 1 million barrels of oil per day, has experienced the pain of lowering oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that Oman’s economy shrank by 10% last year, the sharpest contraction among the Gulf countries.