Saudi King names Crown Prince as Prime Minister

Crown Prince HRH Mohammed bin Salman Abdulaziz

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issued a royal decree on Tuesday appointing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdom's prime minister as part of a Cabinet reshuffle.

Prince Khalid bin Salman, who had been serving as deputy defence minister, will be the kingdom’s new defence minister, taking over from the crown prince, according to royal decree, which the official SPA news agency carried.

The Cabinet reshuffle also saw the appointment of Yousef bin Abdullah bin Muhammad Al Bunyan as minister of education, replacing Hamad Al Sheikh, who had been in the post since 2018.

Later, the new defence and education ministers were sworn in by the king, a video posted by SPA on Twitter showed.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman will remain as energy minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan as foreign minister and Adel Aljubeir as minister of state for foreign affairs.

Interior Minister Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan and Investment Minister Khalid A Al Falih have also kept their positions, as has Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq bin Fawzan.

Also keeping their ministerial positions are Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz as minister of the National Guard, Walid al-Samaani as minister of justice, and Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi as minister of commerce.

Since the appointment of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017, the kingdom has undertaken a series of changes as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on oil revenues.