Saudi King Names New Economy Minister, Eldest Previously-isolated Son as Advisor

By Staff, Agencies

King Salman of Saudi Arabia appointed a new economy minister and named his eldest living son as a special advisor in a series of royal decrees issued early Monday.

Faisal al-Ibrahim was named as the minister of economy and planning, a move that promotes him from his post as deputy minister in which he had served as since early 2018. Al-Ibrahim has previously held jobs with Aramco and in the country's Council of Economic Affairs and Development, according to Saudi state media reports.

Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan had been serving as the acting minister of economy since last year.

In another decree published in state media, King Salman appointed Prince Sultan bin Salman as a special advisor to his father. The prince had been head of the Saudi Space Authority, leaning on his experience as the first Arab astronaut to go to space in 1985. The space authority will now be chaired by Abdullah al-Swaha, who is also the minister of communications and information technology.

It is worth stating that a couple of days earlier, “Al-Ahed al-Jadeed” Twitter account unveiled that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman [MBS] has ordered to ban his brother Prince Sultan Bin Salman from travelling.

In a tweet on Saturday, the account pointed to the major recent confusion inside the royal palace, without elaborating.

Ever since MBS assumed power, several detentions have been launched against Saudi princes, the last of which was in March 2020 when he arrested dozens of royals and confiscated huge amounts of their money.

Earlier reports have confirmed that Sultan Bin Salman has been marginalized and isolated from his previous post at the Tourism Commission due to his direct remarks in several occasions that he doesn’t accept his brother’s policies, leading to MBS’ hostility.