Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia

The Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia is the chair of the Council of Ministers and formal Head of Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since the reign of King Faisal, the post has been held by the King of Saudi Arabia.

History

The office was created along with the Council of Ministers on 9 October 1953, by decree of King Saud. Due to unrest within the royal family over his rule, Saud was forced to appoint his half-brother, Crown Prince Faisal, as prime minister. An ongoing power struggle between the two led to Faisal's resignation in 1960, allowing Saud to reclaim the reins of government, but continued discontent saw Faisal return as prime minister in 1962.

After the deposition of Saud in 1964, Faisal succeeded him as king, while remaining prime minister. Since then the two offices have been merged. However, since the reign of King Khalid, others have done much of the "heavy lifting" as the king was either unwilling or unable to carry the workload, especially as the kingdom became a gerontocracy during the 1990s and 2000s. Royal Favorites achieved power to become de facto prime ministers. The current one is the King's son Mohammad, who is his father's top aide.

List of de jure Prime Ministers of Saudi Arabia

• King Saud: 9 October 1953 – 16 August 1954 (1st time)
• Crown Prince Faisal: 16 August 1954 – 21 December 1960 (1st time)
• King Saud: 21 December 1960 – 31 October 1962 (2nd time)
• Crown Prince Faisal 31 October 1962 – 2 November 1964 (2nd time)

Since the time of the coup, the Kingship and the prime ministership have been one and the same.

• King Faisal: 2 November 1964 – 25 March 1975 (3rd time)
• King Khalid: 29 March 1975 – 13 June 1982
• King Fahd: 13 June 1982 – 1 August 2005
• King Abdullah: 1 August 2005 – 23 January 2015
• King Salman: 23 January 2015 – present

List of de facto Prime Ministers of Saudi Arabia

• Crown Prince Fahd: 1975–1982; deputy prime minister and chief adviser to King Khalid.
• Crown Prince Abdullah: 21 February 1996 – 1 August 2005; regent for King Fahd.
• Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Nuweisir, Chief of the Royal Court and Chief of staff To Regent/King Abdullah 1996(?)–2005
• Khaled al-Tuwaijri: Chief of Staff/private secretary and éminence grise to King Abdullah with the title of President of the Royal Court; 9 October 2005 – 23 January 2015
• Prince Mohammed bin Salman Chief of the Royal Court, chair of the Council for Economic and Development Affair and Minister of Defense under King Salman; 23 January 2015 – present

See also

• List of kings of Saudi Arabia