The Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, issued 28 royal decrees, including restructuring the cabinet, canceling laws, merging some ministries, and creating new ministries.
The decrees included the restructuring of the Council of Ministers headed by the Sultan, the appointment of Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said as Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs, in addition to the appointment of Shihab bin Tariq bin Taimur Al Said (the Sultan’s brother) as Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs.
The decree also stipulated appointing Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Oman to succeed Yousef bin Alawi, and appointing Taimur bin Asaad bin Tariq Al Said as head of the Central Bank.
The new Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs previously assumed the position of Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Sultanate, and he belongs to the ruling family.
Omani state television said, "The Sultanate appointed today, Tuesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and another for Finance, after the Sultan of the country held the two positions, in a broad restructuring of the government."
The Sultanate of Oman previously had a minister for financial affairs and a minister responsible for foreign affairs, but their portfolios were under the Sultan’s supervision.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Muscat, Samir Al-Nimri, said, "These government changes and the royal decrees came - according to observers - a translation of the speech of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, which he delivered upon assuming the reins of power in the Sultanate last January, as he pledged at the time to reconfigure the state apparatus in a proportionate manner in The Sultanate’s Vision 2040.
The correspondent added that these decrees included making amendments and changes and merging multiple ministries, the most prominent of which was the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, which will be undertaken by Dhi Yazan bin Tariq, son of the Sultan, as well as the merging of the Ministries of Justice and Legal Affairs into one ministry, as well as the establishment of the Ministry of Labor.