Young blood on top as Saudi shuffles its royal pack
Print Edition
The king of Saudi Arabia yesterday removed his half-brother from the post of crown prince, replacing him with his nephew, and elevated his son to the position of deputy crown prince in the most significant repositioning of power among members of the kingdom’s royal family since King Salman assumed the throne in January.
The appointments, announced in a decree from the royal court, further thrust a new generation of Saudi princes into the line of succession and mapped out the future of the throne for potentially decades to come.
The post of crown prince secures Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as the most likely successor to the king. The prince, who is also the interior minister, is known internationally as Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism czar and was previously deputy crown prince.
He becomes the first of his generation to be elevated to such a high position — first in line to the throne. He has survived several assassination attempts, including one in 2009 by al-Qaida. He takes over the post of crown prince from Prince Muqrin.
The royal decree also announced that the king’s son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had been appointed deputy crown prince. He is believed to be about 30 and is also the country’s defense minister. As deputy crown prince, he is essentially seen as being second in line to the throne.
Both the new crown prince and deputy crown prince are from a generation of grandsons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, the late King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, whose sons have passed power among one another — from brother to brother — since his death in 1953.
The royal decree said the appointments were made in line with the kingdom’s founding principle of “continuity on the basis of service to faith, the nation and the people, and what is good for its loyal people.”
As the new crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef will continue to oversee the country’s massive police force and border guards as interior minister. As crown prince, he will also serve as deputy prime minister. His late father was the elder brother of 79-year-old King Salman.
The moves come as the United States-allied monarchy faces a number of challenges, including creating millions of jobs for its young population, low oil prices that have forced it to dig into its massive financial reserves, and security threats both internally from terrorist groups and externally along its borders with Iraq and Yemen.
Since taking the throne, the monarch has presided over a more proactive foreign policy, including Saudi-led airstrikes launched in March against Shiite rebels in Yemen who are supported by Iran.
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