Saudi king allows cabinet to meet without him or crown prince

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issued a royal decree that allows the cabinet to convene in the absence of both himself and the prime minister, his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, state media reported on Thursday.

The 88-year-old king of the world’s biggest oil exporter, and a major US ally in the Middle East, received medical care for lung inflammation in May that prompted Prince Mohammed to later postpone an official visit to Japan due to the king’s health.

The king chaired a cabinet meeting a week later, with state TV broadcasting footage of him leading the meeting via video conference. Prince Mohammed, 38, has been the de facto ruler of the OPEC leading country since his father named him as heir in 2017, in a move that cut hundreds of veteran princes out of the line of succession and tore up the unwritten rules of the ruling family’s dynastic politics.

The king named him prime minister in 2022.

In the absence of the king, the crown prince or his deputies, the cabinet would be chaired by the eldest member of the cabinet who is a descendant of Salman’s father, founding King Abdulaziz Al Saud. Cabinet decisions issued would be signed by the chairman, the royal decree added.