Oman– In the latest move, the Oman ruling sultan has replaced the Gulf Arab state’s long serving oil minister. The new one to take the position is Salem-al-Aufi replacing Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Rumhi.
The movement happened as a part of a cabinet reshuffle. Aufi’s appointment is the only notable thing that happened in the cabinet reshuffle. As a minister he had been working as an undersecretary at the Energy and Minerals ministry. With this announcement has also come the development of a higher justice council. This was announced by the sultan himself.
It is worth noting that the outgoing minister had held the helm for close to 24 years. The veteran minister has frequently represented Oman at meetings of the OPEC+ alliance, and has been a ‘strong advocate’ of the coalition. Rumi continued to urge Oman to become a part of the coalition since 2015 and was considered a highly respected minister due to his vision.
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These were amongst the 13 royal decrees that were issued by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. Further, he announced that the new ‘Supreme Judicial Council’ shall be established to have legal identity and enjoy financial and administrative autonomy. The headquarters of the Council shall be in the Government of Muscat. He has given more teeth to the Ministry of Interior.
Under the reshuffle, two more ministers were appointed. This included Mohammed Al Maamari as minister of awqaf (endowments) and religious affairs; and Dr Hilal Al Sabti as minister of health. The Sultan decided over the reshuffle and other decrees after examining the state’s basic system and based on dictates of public interests.
Additionally, new provincial governors were appointed including Saud bin Halal for Muscat; Mohammed bin Sulaiman for Batinah North and Saif bin Mohammed Al Malek for Al Batinah South.
