Beirut: It was a foregone conclusion that King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi Arabia’s seventh monarch, would quickly appoint the second deputy prime minister, Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz as his heir to the throne even if some anticipated gloom and doom doubting that the designee would be so elevated along the pekking order. What came as a surprise, however, was the speed with which the 79-year monarch—presumably with the knowledge if not the approval of his heir apparent—issued various decrees that reshuffled the caBinet and clarified the succession line-up even further.
The royal decree that appointed Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef as heir to the heir apparent was vintage Al Saud, which amply illustrated how serious the process was and, perhaps more important, how keen the ruling family is to maintain domestic stability. In fact, as Minister of the Interior—a position he will apparently keep—Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef’s chief writ was counter-terrorism, which clarified what the new ruler’s priorities are.
Prince Mohammad, who was born in 1959, earned his well-deserved reputation as a doer, and secured an impeccable reputation as someone who knew how to protect the Kingdom from extremists. Educated in the United States—he received a bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1981—with extensive specialized counter-terrorism coursework with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as Scotland Yard, the heir to the heir apparent believed in rehabilitating young Saudis who veered away from the country’s cherished values. As the architect of the Kingdom’s counter-insurgency program, he went out of his way to win over each extremist who wished to redeem himself, and personally welcomed those who recanted in his majlis for a full reconciliation session.
For his bravura, the prince survived at least four assassination attempts to date, one of which required hospitalization and, remarkably, the visit of King Abdallah to his hospital bed. On August 27, 2009, a terrorist detonated himself as he entered the minister’s majlis, even if the two men were on speaking terms and had exchanged telephone conversations a few days earlier when the extremist expressed a desire to turn himself in.
In addition to Princes Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz and Mohammad Bin Nayef, King Salman also appointed his son Mohammad Bin Salman as the country’s new defense minister—a post entrusted to Salman by the late King Abdallah—along with the sensitive portfolio of Chief of the Royal Court (Diwan).
Whether the incumbent’s dismissal from the post of Chief of the Diwan was planned was difficult to know although Khalid Al Tuwaijiri was not particularly popular. Al Tuwaijiri was viewed with suspicion and many Saudis alleged that he was a corrupt individual, though he was in the late monarch’s good graces. A few months ago, Prince Khalid Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz launched an attack on his Twitter account against Al Tuwaijri, which surprised many. While the cryptic message did not name the Chief of the Diwan, it referred to “The Supreme Leader [who] has opened his own Court,” adding that he disrupted the affairs of state and accumulated a lot of wealth in the process. Another grandson of the founder, Prince Saud Bin Saif Al Nasir targeted Al Tuwaijiri openly, accusing him of corruption over a series of tweets.
As in the past, an exceptionally well-oiled Al Saud method was in full view on Friday and as expected, members of the ruling family, senior clerics, government officials, and Saudi citizens pledged their allegiance (bay‘ah) to the monarch and his heir in several ceremonies across the country. In fact, the Muqrin designation as heir confirmed that the late King Abdullah’s choice was respected, which also affirmed that the succession torch would now pass to a new generation of Al Saud with Mohammad Bin Nayef. Towards that end, and over the course of the next few weeks, Riyadh may well convene the Allegiance Council members to affirm these two choices, that will further set the stage to an orderly transition process in a few years time.
The succession mechanism in Saudi Arabia considered lineage to be a key factor in any choices made, although meritocracy was also vital, best illustrated by the appointment of Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef. To be sure, detractors anticipated catastrophes around every corner, and what preoccupied analysts was the putative handing of power to a new generation of Al Saud, even if these latest selections displayed impeccable discipline. In fact, King Salman upheld his predecessor’s commitments to uphold the family’s as well as the country’s interests above all else and, under the circumstances, those who expected a full-blown internal power struggle were probably disappointed as Saudi Arabia remained focused on addressing serious regional challenges.
