The Latest on Southeast Asia: Brunei’s Cabinet Reshuffle

Last week, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announced the country’s first cabinet reshuffle since 2022. The reshuffle established new portfolios and appointed two of the Sultan’s sons as first-time ministers. Meanwhile, Sultan Bolkiah will continue to serve as Brunei’s prime minister, defense minister, and finance minister. The reshuffle comes at a time when the sultanate’s oil exports are at their highest in five years and are likely to continue growing amid the global energy crisis sparked by the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.  

Sultan Bolkiah appointed Prince Abdul Mateen, 34, foreign minister. The role had been held by the Sultan himself since removing his brother, Prince Mohamed, from the portfolio in 2015. Prince Mateen, the Sultan’s second youngest son known for his popular social media presence, serves as a military officer in Brunei’s armed forces and as a helicopter pilot. The Sultan confirmed that Prince Mateen will continue in his military duties while serving as foreign minister. Prince Mateen has recently accompanied his father on high-level foreign engagements, most recently the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Cebu last month.  

The Sultan also appointed Prince Abdul Malik, his second eldest son at 42, minister in the Prime Minister's Office. Sultan Bolkiah indicated the appointment of his younger sons marks a generational shift in leadership, saying it would provide them “early exposure in the government’s administrative system.”  Meanwhile, Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Sultan’s eldest son at 52, will remain senior minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. With three of his sons in cabinet, Sultan Bolkiah is increasingly concentrating government authority in his direct line of succession rather than among his siblings, shoring up the next generation of the Bolkiah dynasty. Brunei’s government structure also continues to evolve beyond the royal lineage, with the Sultan appointing four female ministers, the most since the country’s independence.  

Amid the reshuffle, Sultan Bolkiah announced three new ministerial roles geared toward strengthening policy coordination across government and re-organized the Primary Resources and Tourism Ministry as the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. The re-organization seems intended to advance Brunei’s national development plan, Wawasan 2035, which emphasizes the urgent need to diversify away from the sultanate’s oil-reliant economy toward a sustainable economic future. Brunei’s oil exports have surged to 105,000 barrels per day in April, its highest five years, but projections suggest the country could run out of commercially exploitable reserves in the next two decades. With the goal of Wawasan 2035 less than a decade away, the new generation of leadership being ushered in could play a decisive role in whether the country achieves its economic goals.

Lauren Mai is a Program Manager and Research Associate for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. 

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