The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, with the approval of the Allegiance Council, issued a royal decree today, Wednesday, 26 Ramadan 1438 AH, corresponding to June 21, 2017, relieving His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, choosing His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as Crown Prince, and appointing him as Deputy Prime Minister while continuing as Minister of Defense and continuing his other assignments.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques also issued an order amending paragraph (b) of Article 5 of the Basic Law of Governance to read as follows: ”The rule shall be in the sons of the founding King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Faisal Al-Saud and the sons of the sons, and the fittest of them shall be sworn in to rule based on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. After the sons of the founding king, there shall be no king and crown prince from a single branch of the descendants of the founding king.”