By IINA,
Riyadh : Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz yesterday reshuffled the Kingdom’s Cabinet, changing four ministers and appointing the first woman minister. He appointed Justice Minister Abdullah Al Asheikh as the new chairman of the 150-member Shoura Council, replacing Saleh Bin Humaid. King Abdullah constituted the Supreme Judicial Council with Saleh Bin Humaid as the president. The 21-member Senior Scholar’s Commission was reconstituted in a way accommodating representatives of all schools of thought belonging to Sunnis. The Commission is currently represented by scholars representing Hanbali school of thought. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Alu Al Sheikh will continue as its head.
Abdul Aziz Khoja has been appointed the new minister of culture and information, replacing Iyad Madani. Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed is the new minister of education. He replaces Abdullah Al Obaid.. Mohammed bin Abdul Kareem Al-Eissa, former deputy chairman of the Court of Grievances, is the new justice minister. Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Rabeeah, who became famous after successfully conducting more than a dozen operations to separate Siamese twins from different countries, replaces Dr. Hamad Al Manie as the new health minister.
Nora bint Abdullah Al-Fayez, director general of the women’s section of the Institute of Public Administration, made history by becoming the first woman deputy minister in Saudi Arabia. She will be in charge of girls’ affairs in the Ministry of Education. She replaces Prince Khaled bin Abdullah bin Mohammed. This is the first major Cabinet reshuffle made by King Abdullah since he came to the throne in August 2005. According to Labor Minister Ghazi Al Gosaibi, the changes were made to speed up implementation of the new educational and judicial reforms introduced by the king. King Abdullah also reshuffled the Shoura Council, naming new faces to the consultative body. Former Shoura chief Bin Humaid has been named chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council while Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Aziz Al Kelya was named chief justice of the Supreme Court.
The appointment of Abdul Aziz Al Humain as head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, replacing Ibrahim Al Ghaith, has been described by analysts as an important move. King Abdullah named Muhammad Al Jasser as the new governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the Kingdom’s central bank. He replaces Hamad Al Sayari, who had been the SAMA chief since 1985. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf said the new appointment would not bring about any major changes in SAMA’s banking and monetary policies. The new appointments come into effect February 28.