MUSCAT — Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, and Hamad bin Mohammed al Rashdi, Minister of Information, confirmed that the Sultanate totally rejects and detests the conspiracy theory associated with the political events witnessed by the Arab world earlier this year and what became known as the Arab Spring.

The two ministers said that the Sultanate fully understands the reasons behind the protests that took place in the country during February, and responded to it. “We do not want the Arab world to adopt the European model that calls for the separation between the state and the religion. We do not want revolutions based on the old conception, not we want bloody revolutions. 

Image HE Minister of Information Yusuf Alawi below

Image HE Minister of Information Hamed Al Rashdi above

The Arab League was established to encourage the peaceful transmission of power. Change is inevitable in the region but only through the mechanisms of the society,” Alawi told an Arabic daily. “The concerns over the conspiracy theory and US preparations to hand the region over to extremist groups are exaggerated.

The Arab world co-existed with all, and now they are talking about extremist groups. These groups who want to reduce the international nature of Islam to a specific area will certainly vanish while the true essence of Islam will remain for eternity,” added Alawi. Alawi who believes in the inevitability and the necessity of change rules out that the call of secularists to separate between the religion and the state is destined to fail, confirming that the state is nothing but the nation, and no one can pull out religion from the nation.

“The whole matter is centred on how to built a new system that respond to what had been neglected in the past. All peoples and particularly the youth should be provided with all means that enable them to develop themselves in all aspects of life, this requires plans that ensure gradual change. It is not true that all the problems will disappear as soon the regime is toppled,” said Alawi.

Alawi downplayed the scenes of destruction that accompanied the sit-ins that took place in Sohar and Dhofar region in February, confirming that the security forces did not confront the protesters, and there was no violence. He considers that the government understood the demands of the protesters who were seeking jobs and asking for pay rise.

The government later responded by providing jobs to the Omani job-seekers, a trend that was already among the government’s major planning and priorities. Al Rashdi said the amendments to the State Basic Statute complemented the achievements of the preceding stages. The demands of the citizens are not considered negative despite the negative phenomena that accompanied the sit-ins, the violence and vandalism was much limited.

About corruption which was one of the reasons behind the sit-ins, the minister said that there were unlawful practices, and that suitable measures were taken against some officials, and this is what should have happened provided that no one is taken by suspicion. Al Rashdi agrees with Alawi on the importance of internal dialogue. Alawi adds that for any dialogue to be successful, we have to accept the other opinion. — Oman Arabic Daily