The king appoints Mohammad Musa Shafiq to form a new administration which takes office later in the month. Shafiq had been prominent in shaping the constitution of 1964, which banned members of the royal family from public office, and had thereby brought to an end the quasi-dictatorship of Gen. Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan, the king's cousin and brother-in-law, who had virtually ruled Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963.
The monarch appoints Mohammad Musa Shafiq to head a new government that will take office in the coming weeks. Shafiq was instrumental in creating the constitution of 1964, which barred royal family members from public life, thus bringing an end to the de facto rule of Gen. Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan, the king's cousin and brother-in-law, who had controlled Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963.