Voters rejected all the 21 female candidates, including a sitting member, with the result that the Majlis, for the first time in 13 years, will be an all-men body in its new sixth term (2008-11).

The outgoing council has two women members; one of them did not contest this time. Kamilia bint Mohammed Al Busaidy, a leading Muscat-based lawyer, took her defeat in Muttrah in the capital, where she contested against 13 other hopefuls, calmly and philosophically, but voiced her determination to stand again.

"I feel it wasn't for me this time. In Islam, we believe in destiny for everything. It was not destined for me this time. Maybe next time," she said, adding that she would contest again in 2011.

Answering a question about possible reasons for the disastrous performance by women, Kamilia said: "It is difficult now to pinpoint the exact reason. Maybe women candidates did not get enough support from our sister women. We must work harder next time."

She, however, believes that the outcome was not ‘that dramatic or a setback’ for women in the country. "It happens. We just did not succeed this time. And I believe the reasons do not have anything specific to do with women," she said.

Kamilia, who was a first time candidate, said she was confident that the absence of women members would not affect the Majlis work concerning women's issues. "The council," she added, "will go ahead with its discussions and deliberations on women's issues and problems."

Freelance journalist Aziza bint Sleem Al Habsi, who lost in the two-member Seeb wilayat in the Muscat governorate, was forthright in her comments. "I think it is a step backward for the country. There will not be a single woman in the council for the first time. I think it is very bad," she said. Aziza added she was at a loss to explain the voters' rebuff. "It's not just me. They did not elect a single woman despite the widespread backing we had been receiving before the poll. In my own case, I got hundreds of calls promising support. But the support did not convert into votes," she said.

Was it due to pitfalls in campaigning? "Not at all," Aziza said, adding: "We have one full month to campaign. Our pictures were everywhere and in newspapers almost every day and we canvassed tirelessly. No, that cannot be the explanation. Something else went wrong. We must find out."

"I can't think of any specific reason why all women lost," Raheela Al Riyami, who sought re-election for the a third consecutive time from the capital's Baushar constituency, said. "I have not been able to go through the voting statistics yet," she added. Raheela, who was widely expected to win because of her commendable performance in the Majlis, actively taking part and contributing to debates and discussions in the house, and her social work, took her defeat ‘realistically’, as she described it.

"It was an open and very transparent campaign. And in an election, some people win, some people lose. That's how it is. I am not unhappy," she said. However, Raheela felt it was a pity that the Majlis would not have a woman member for the first time since 1994.