Posted on 06/21/2017 2:41:18 AM PDT by Cronos
Saudi Arabia's King Salman made his son his successor on Wednesday, removing his nephew as crown prince and giving the 31-year old almost unprecedented powers as the world's leading oil exporter implements transformational reforms.
...It said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a counter-terrorism chief admired in Washington for putting down an al Qaeda campaign of bombings in 2003-06, was relieved of all positions.
Although Mohammed bin Salman's promotion was expected among close circles it came as a surprise at a time the kingdom is facing heightened tensions with Qatar and Iran and is locked in a war in Yemen.
..."Some people were predicting that this would lead to a division in the family and strife and some kind of revolt. I don't see that happening."
A senior Saudi official said the decision was taken due to what he called special circumstances presented to the members of the Allegiance Council. He added that Mohammed bin Nayef supported the decision in a letter sent to the king.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
MbS is shrewd but also impulsive and stupid, this is not a good long term move.
At just 31 yrs. old he must have already ruffled a lot of feathers in a royal family that was used to being presided over by a succession of elderly men. But it’s a heads up to the next Generation that things are changing as some have said......likely if conflict it will be between the generations.
MbS is shrewd but also impulsive and stupid, this is not a good long term move.
Like a right handed throwing southpaw.
Iran, Turkey and Qatar along with Russia are going to be watching this carefully.......The House of Saud Stands.
He has the nominal support of almost all the ruling council and is said to be favored by the Saudi religious establishment. It’s even said to be seen as positive in Israel.
This may be a reflection of the loss of popular support for the older generation that has left the Arab world in chaos.
Yeah, but most people prefer tuna.
The six kings who have ruled since 1953 have all been brothers to one another, sons of the kingdom’s founder, Ibn Saud. Of course that system could not go on forever, and I was wondering what they would do if they waited until the last son of Ibn Saud died before changing it. Apparently Salman didn’t want that to happen.
How can someone be both shrewd and stupid?
As the sons were getting old so preparations for the future were thought about.
King Fahd ignored this and the matter was buried till King Abdullah selected a vice crown prince prince Mekren Ibn Abdel Aziz (his step brother) that enforced the succession of power limiting it to the sons for the near future.
After king's Abdullah death,Salman assumed power and he appointed a vice crown prince Mohamed Ibn Naief Ibn Abdelaziz. This clarified things as now Mohamed bin Nafief was to be the first grandson of Abdul Aziz to be a future king.
Then, after a few more months King Salman removed his brother then crown prince Mekkren, promoted Mohamed Ibn Naief to crown prince and put his own son Mohamed Ibn Salman as the vice crown prince.
King Salman made it clear that the future of the kingdom will relay only on a small faction inside the royal family called the Sudairi Seven and their sons. (The Sudairi Seven, is the commonly used name for a powerful alliance of seven full brothers within the House of Saud.
They all are sons of King Abdulaziz 'Ibn Saud' and his wife Hussa Sudairi. The oldest (Fahd) served as king from 1982 to 2005; the second- and fourth-oldest (Sultan and Nayef) served as crown prince but predeceased King Abdullah, and the sixth-oldest (Salman) succeeded Abdullah as king in 2015.
And NOW, Salman installed his son i.e. setting up his dynasty.
expect chaos
What are the “special circumstances” referred to?
This one looks like he goes to Monte Carlo to spawn.
Still laughing!
Politically, he capably positioned himself amongst the dozens of potential sucessors to King Salman. He is positioned to dominate the thrid generation of Saudi rulers. The hallmark of a shrewd politician.
However he is also advocated for the Saudi intervention in Yemen. He also led efforts to punish Egypt for failing to assist that effort (Former Egyptian leader Nasser intervened in Yemen in the late’60s... to Egypt’s everlasting regret). Both of these are stupid moves that created more opportunities for Iran.
He is shortsighted, sacrificing Saudi long term interests in favor of short term goals. I think the confrontation with Qatar is symptomatic of this. Yes, the Qataris play all sides, but overt confrontation never plays well with Arabs. It forces the Qataris’ hand and is in no ones long term interests. I consider him short-sighted and stupid.
correct, plus it will cause a lot of infighting among the 3000 Saudi princes. Expect civil war
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