King reconstitutes Shoura Council; Al-Ghafis appointed labor minister

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman appointed Ali Al-Ghafis as the new minister of labor and social development, replacing Mofrej Al-Haqbani.

In a series of royal decrees issued on Friday night, the King also reconstituted the Shoura Council and the Council of Senior Scholars, the Saudi Press Agency reported.  

According to a decree, Minister of Labor and Social Development Mofrej Al-Haqbani has been relieved of duty.

The King has reconstituted the Shoura Council for a period of four years and reinstated Sheikh Abdullah Al-Asheikh as the council’s president, Muhammad Al-Jafri as deputy president and Yahya Al-Samaan as assistant president.

The King appointed 150 members to the council, who included Al-Jafri and Al-Samaan, while the council’s Secretary-General Muhammad Al-Amr has been relieved.

King Salman reconstituted the Council of Senior Scholars with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh as its chairman. Saleh Al-Lehaidan, Saleh Al-Fouzan, Abdullah Al-Asheikh, Abdullah Al-Turki, Saleh Bin Humaid, Abdullah Al-Mutalq, Ahmed Al-Mubaraki, Saad Al-Shithri, Muhammad Al-Issa, Abdulwahab Abu Suleiman, Abdullah Al-Khaneen, Yaqub A. Al-Bahussein, Mohammed Al-Asheikh, Abdulkarim Al-Khodair, Mohammed Al-Mukhtar, Suleiman Abalkhail, Jibreel Al-Busaili and Saleh Al-Osaimi are the 20 members of the reconstituted council.

In another decree, the King extended the term of four full-time members of the Permanent Committee for Fatwas. The four members are Saleh Al-Fouzan, Ahmed Mubaraki, Mohammed Al-Asheikh and Abdulkarim Al-Khodair.
King Salman appointed Abdurahman Al-Sadhan as adviser at the royal court in the rank of minister.

Royal decrees have also been issued to relieve Director General of the Customs Saleh Al-Kholaiwi and Education Evaluation Commission Governor Naif Al-Rumi of their posts.

The King has instructed the concerned authorities to carry out the orders with immediate effect.