SALALAH – Some 3,000 protesters took to the streets after Friday prayers in Oman’s southern port of Salalah in one of the biggest pro-reform demonstrations since scattered unrest began in the sultanate two months ago.
Instead of conducting prayers in a mosque, a preacher held them in a car park across the street from the governor’s office, where about 3,000 worshippers had gathered. They marched through the streets after his sermon.
“The Omani people are not afraid of protesting for as long as it takes for reform; first and foremost is to get government officials, who have been embezzling funds for years, to stand trial,” the cleric, Amer Hargan, said.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, a US ally who has ruled Oman for 40 years, promised a €1.78 billion spending package last Sunday after nearly two months of demonstrations inspired by popular uprisings across the Arab world.
Omani protesters have focused their demands on better wages, jobs and an end to graft. Many are angered by the state’s perceived unwillingness to prosecute ministers sacked for corruption in response to rallies in February.
They are also impatient to see more employment opportunities, after Sultan Qaboos vowed last month to create 50,000 jobs.
“We are still waiting for the jobs we’ve been promised,” said protester Seif al-Basaid. “How long do we have to wait?” Unrest in Oman has been on a relatively small scale, with dozens of protesters camping out in tents near the quasi-parliament, the Shura council, in the capital, Muscat.
Earlier this week, Oman announced pardons for 234 people arrested at protests but did not say when they were freed.
Gulf Arab oil producers, keen to prevent uprisings from taking root in the region, launched a $20 billion (€13.7 billion) aid package for protest-hit Bahrain and Oman last month. The job-generating measure will give $10 billion to each country to upgrade housing and infrastructure over 10 years.
Sultan Qaboos has offered a series of job reforms, including a monthly allowance for the unemployed and pay rises for civil servants. In Salalah, protesters said the wage increase – to 200 rials (€357) a month from 140 rials – was not enough.
The sultan promised in March to cede some legislative powers to the partially-elected Oman Council. Now only the sultan and his cabinet can legislate, and a transfer of powers has yet to be announced. – (Reuters)