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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Saudi Arabia
Index
The Council of Ministers, created in 1953 by King Abd al Aziz
shortly before his death, was the principal executive organ of
the government. The Council of Ministers had authority to issue
ministerial decrees, but it had no power separate from the king,
who approved all its decisions. The office of prime minister had
been abolished by royal decree in 1964, but the king, in his
capacity as president of the Council of Ministers, served as the
de facto prime minister. The crown prince was designated the
first deputy prime minister, and the next prince in the line of
succession was the second deputy prime minister. In 1992 the
Council of Ministers consisted of the king, the crown prince,
three royal advisers who held official positions as ministers of
state without portfolio, five other ministers of state, and the
heads of the twenty ministries, including Minister of Defense and
Aviation Amir Sultan, who also served as second deputy prime
minister. The ministries included agriculture and water;
commerce; communications; defense and aviation; education;
finance and national economy; foreign affairs; health; higher
education; industry and electricity; information; interior;
justice; labor and social affairs; municipal and rural affairs;
petroleum and mineral resources; pilgrimage affairs and religious
trusts; planning; post, telephone, and telegraph; and public
works and housing. In addition to these ministries, the Saudi
Arabian National Guard, which was headed by Crown Prince Abd
Allah, was similar in status to a ministry. The governors of
Medina, Mecca, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province, as well as the
governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) and the head
of the General Petroleum and Mineral Organization (Petromin) also
held ministerial rank
(see
fig. 8).
Figure 8. Government Organization, 1992
The Ministry of Interior, which was responsible for domestic
security, was second in overall political influence to the
Ministry of Defense and Aviation. Since 1975 Amir Nayif ibn Abd
al Aziz Al Saud (born 1933), who was a full brother of King Fahd,
has been minister of interior. In 1992 Nayif ranked as the fourth
most powerful person in the country after Fahd, Abd Allah, and
Sultan. Nayif supervised the expansion of the ministry into an
organization that exercised considerable influence over the daily
lives of Saudi citizens.
As crown prince under King Khalid and as king in his own
right since 1982, Fahd brought into the government many talented
men from families other than the ruling Al Saud. In 1992 about 75
percent of the Council of Ministers were of commoner backgrounds.
Nevertheless, the key ministries of defense, foreign affairs,
interior, and public works continued to be headed by Saudi
princes. In addition, several of the king's younger brothers and
nephews were deputy ministers in these same ministries, in effect
acquiring on-the-job training to help ensure Al Saud control for
another generation.
Data as of December 1992
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