Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, was appointed prime minister on Tuesday (27) – the position is traditionally held by the king.
The appointment was published in a decree signed by King Salman, the prince’s father, without the document specifying a reason. In another decree, the monarch appointed MBS’s younger brother, Prince Khalid bin Salman, as the new defense minister. The other folders have not changed.
With the choice of MBS as head of government, the monarch continues the gradual transfer of power in the world’s largest oil exporter. MBS, in effect, already ruled Saudi Arabia, although he still did not have the position he won on Tuesday. At 37, he oversees the country’s oil, defence, economic policy and internal security. Previously, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister.
The king remains head of state and will continue to lead the meetings he attends, the statement said. The monarch became ruler in 2015 after spending more than two and a half years as crown prince. The 86-year-old has been hospitalized several times over the past two years.
Since coming to power in 2017, MBS has radically changed Saudi Arabia, spearheading efforts to diversify the economy from dependence on oil, allowing women to lead and restricting the power of clerics over society.
His reforms, however, came along with a strong crackdown on dissent — activists, royals, women’s rights advocates and businessmen were arrested. In addition, his reputation was tarnished with the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the reign’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, damaging the country’s relations with the United States, a key ally, and other Western partners.
In July of this year, a reparation process began, with US President Joe Biden’s visit to the kingdom, on a trip that has come under constant public scrutiny. The Democrat had called Saudi Arabia a pariah and criticized the local human rights situation.
In his meeting with MBS, Biden said he confronted the prince about Khashoggi’s murder and that he believed he was personally responsible for the journalist’s death.
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