According to a royal decree issued on Tuesday, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia appointed Prince Khalid as the country’s defence minister and his second son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as the nation’s prime minister. According to the royal edict, which was relayed by the official news agency SPA, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, another son, was retained in his position as Energy Minister. The proclamation stated that Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, minister of foreign affairs, Mohammed al-Jadaan, minister of finance, and Khalid al-Falih, minister of investments, all remained in their positions.
According to a Saudi official on Tuesday, Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s new position is consistent with the tasks the monarch previously assigned to him, which included representing the country abroad and serving as summit chair. According to the source, ‘HRH the crown prince already oversees the key executive bodies of the state on a daily basis, based on the king’s directives, and his new role as prime minister is within that context’.
Saudi Arabia’s De facto ruler
As de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the leading oil exporter and a key ally of the United States in the Middle East, the crown prince, often known by his initials MbS, has served as the country’s defence minister. Former deputy defence minister was Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of MbS. The proclamation said that King Salman will continue to preside over cabinet sessions. After serving as crown prince for more than two and a half years, the 86-year-old King, who is in charge of the holiest places in Islam, took the throne in 2015. Over the past two years, he has visited the hospital on several occasions.
MbS’s influence
Since coming to power in 2017, Prince Mohammed has made significant changes to Saudi Arabia, including measures to diversify the economy away from its reliance on oil, allowing women to drive, and reducing the influence of the clerics over society. But along with his reforms came a harsh crackdown on dissent, which resulted in the imprisonment of activists, royals, women’s rights advocates, and businesses. Jamal Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 damaged his reputation and harmed the kingdom’s ties with the United States and other Western allies.
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