Omanis demand benefits from economic reforms
Protests last month come as Sultan Haitham seeks to reduce Oman's debt, create jobs, and shift away from oil dependence, but its a long game.
“Where is the oil and gas?” chanted protesters in the southern city of Salalah, to question the state’s use of hydrocarbon revenues.
Like them, hundreds of job seekers took to the streets of major cities in the Gulf sheikhdom in late May to protest over high youth unemployment and corruption.
The protests, met with a heavy presence of security forces and arrests of demonstrators, prompted a swift policy reaction from Sultan Haitham, who acceded to the throne in early 2020.
The ruler announced on May 25 that 32,000 full and part-time government jobs would be created.
