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The House of Saud is preparing for a battle royale


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2016 Oct 18, 2:13am   1,305 views  5 comments

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While the House of Saud has largely succeeded in maintaining a smooth system of succession, its internal strength seems to be eroding as the new generation of princes starts eyeing kingship.

While Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the current Saudi defense minister, deputy crown prince and son of King Salman, is believed to be the most powerful person in Saudi Arabia, he is not the lawful heir.

In 2015, according to the tradition, Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, the youngest of the sons of the Kingdom’s founder, Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud), became the Crown Prince.

However, after April 29, 2015, when King Salman changed the scheme of succession, his nephew Muhammad bin Nayef Al Saud, the current interior minister who has no heir and therefore is unable to pass power to his son, became the heir.

While Nayef is the declared and lawful heir, it is the recently invented position of “deputy crown prince” that has put Prince Muhammad bin Salman in confrontation with the Crown prince.

Although this particular position does not make Muhammad bin Salman a direct claimant to the throne, it certainly has put him in a position to act as the ­de facto king due to the current king’s inability (illness) to perform his functions.

Prince Muhammad may be only the second in succession but the powers he has amassed are telling the untold: his ambition to become the new king much sooner than he is legally entitled to.

Mohammed bin Salman is clearly amassing extraordinary power and influence very quickly, and his position clearly reveals the current king’s preference for him. This is bound to unsettle his rivals, say some diplomats who have the experience of working in the country and are familiar with the monarchy’s internal dynamics.

On the other hand, the ‘battle royal’ over succession clearly indicates the direction Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy is heading toward. While Mohammed bin Salman has emerged as a hero due to his war against the Houthis in Yemen, a Shia cleric’s execution in Saudi Arabia has equally elevated bin Nayef’s status in the eyes of the public as well as his friends both at home and abroad.

The Saudi king understands the importance of having the US support for bypassing the line of succession. And, as some reports have claimed, Muhammad bin Salman is cooperating and consulting with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, on all the matters relating to the possibility of taking the post of the next King of the country.

According to the same report, the most important advice the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi has given to bin Salman is about becoming “the United States’ preferred choice as the next ruler of Saudi Arabia.”

After the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, called for an independent international investigation of the crimes against human rights being committed in Yemen by Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces, Prince Muhammad is facing a complex task in his ascent to supreme power, bypassing the Crown Prince.

If the tradition of succession is to be broken for bin Muhammad, it will certainly set the precedence for other 200 princes and intensify the struggle for power which may lead to the monarchy’s implosion.

Full Article: http://www.atimes.com/house-saud-preparing-battle-royale/

Note: Worth a read - whoever is the next president will have their hands full in the Middle East and things (financial and otherwise) are deteriorating in the kingdom.

#MiddleEast #SaudiArabia #Politics

Comments 1 - 5 of 5        Search these comments

1   HEY YOU   2016 Oct 18, 10:45am  

"battle royale"
WTF! Saudis going to attack america again?

2   Strategist   2016 Oct 18, 10:50am  

Fuck the Saudis.They are barbarians.

3   Tenpoundbass   2016 Oct 18, 10:58am  

I bet those dresses would burn like crazy.

4   justme   2016 Oct 18, 11:24am  

>>In 2015, according to the tradition, Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, the youngest of the sons of the Kingdom’s founder, Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud), became the Crown Prince.

>>However, after April 29, 2015, when King Salman changed the scheme of succession, his nephew Muhammad bin Nayef Al Saud, the current interior minister who has no heir and therefore is unable to pass power to his son, became the heir.

Wow, that is interesting. King Salman relegated his own son to a newly created position of "Deputy crown prince" (DCP). Etxremely weird.

It appears now that the DCP is waging war against the Shia in Yemen, and the CP, not to be outdone, is prosecuting, persecuting and killing Shia (read:Iran-friendly) clerics at home.

Could it get any worse? Excellent article, by the way.

5   Ceffer   2016 Oct 18, 11:35am  

Keeping the fifteenth century safe!

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