- Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was selected as the new head of government.
- Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has been appointed interior minister.
- Sheikh Khalifa had also served in the internal security force of Lekhwiya.
Qatar’s emir picked his top diplomat as prime minister on Tuesday and appointed a new interior minister, completing a changing of the guard in the wealthy Gulf kingdom, according to observers.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the ruler’s administration claimed, had accepted “the resignation” of prime minister and interior minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani.
Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was selected as the new head of government and sworn in within hours of the announcement, according to official media.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who led the government’s security committee during last year’s World Cup, has been appointed interior minister.
The new prime minister, an economist, is 42 years old, the same as the emir, and the new interior minister is likewise of the same generation.
No significant modifications
Sheikh Khalifa had also served in the internal security force of Lekhwiya.
The departing prime minister, 55, had been in office since January 2020.
“He was the last real link in government to the father emir,” said a diplomatic observer, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the present emir’s father, abdicated in favor of his son in 2013. Sheikh Hamad had deposed his father in a bloodless coup 18 years before.
The current emir has made no significant modifications to the Gulf state’s staunchly pro-US foreign policy.
Yet, Qatar’s expanding riches, which are based on its large natural gas reserves, have resulted in significant changes to the tiny state and its international profile.
In the last decade, the population has grown by one-third to almost three million, primarily due to a significant influx of migrant laborers, whose treatment has come under worldwide scrutiny.
Political parties are still prohibited in Qatar, however the country held its first direct election for a consultative council in 2021.
Qatar hosted the World Cup last year as part of a campaign to become a worldwide sports powerhouse, as well as to play a larger diplomatic and mediation role in geopolitical problems.
As part of the current changes, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, the governor of the central bank, was appointed chairman of the Qatar Investment Authority, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.
The new prime minister had already held the job.
With the new government, Defence Minister Khalid bin Muhammad Al-Attiyah is named deputy prime minister.
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