At stake in this election:       

• The 84 seats in the Consultative Assembly (Majlis al-Shura)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said al-Said
• Head of Government: Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said al-Said
• Assembly: Oman has a bicameral Council of Oman (Majlis Oman) consisting of the Council of State (Majlis al-Dawla) with 83 seats and the Consultative Assembly (Majlis al-Shura) with 84 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The Sultan and Prime Minister is hereditary head of state.
• In the Council of State (Majlis al-Dawla) 83 members are appointed by the monarch*. In the Consultative Assembly (Majlis al-Shura), 84 members are elected by plurality vote to serve 4-year terms.**

*Members of the Majlis al-Dawla are appointed by the Sultan and have mainly advisory powers. However, after the political reforms of 2011, all legislation from the Consultative Assembly is referred to the State Council for approval or amendment. Drafts must be approved by both chambers before being submitted to the Sultan.

**Members of the Majlis al-Shura are elected from 59 multi-member and single-member electoral districts. Districts with a population over 30,000 have two representatives. As of 2011, the Chairman is indirectly elected by the members of the Assembly.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Independents

Note: There are no political parties in Oman. All candidates run as independents. 

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 3,219,775 (2014 est.)[1]
• Registered voters: 518,000 (2015)[2]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 1,461,075 (2014 est.)[3]
• Is OMAN a signatory to CEDAW: N/A
• Has OMAN ratified CEDAW: Yes (7 February 2006)[4]
• Gender Quota: No
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators[5]: 1 (1.18%) of 84 seats[6]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 56[7]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A[8]

Disability Data:

• Is OMAN a signatory to CRPD: Yes (17 March 2008)[9]
• Has OMAN ratified CRPD: Yes (6 January 2009)[10]
• Population with a disability: 482,966[11]

[1] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mu.html

[2] http://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/500/

[3] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mu.html

[4] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en

[5] http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/search.cfm#

[6] http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/16/172076.html

[7] http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components

[8] http://genderindex.org/country/oman

[9] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&lang=en

[10] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&lang=en

[11] http://www.electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/om/all/