In a shocking development, on Wednesday Saudi Arabia’s King Salman appointed his 31-year-old son Mohammed bin Salman (his eldest son from his third wife) as crown prince, placing him as first-in-line to the throne and removing his nephew, 57-year-old Mohammed bin Nayef – the country’s counterterrorism czar and a figure well-known to Washington – from the royal line of succession, relieving him of his post as Interior Minister, and stripping him from all his titles.
Bin Salman already controls the Kingdom’s defense, oil and economic policies; today’s announcement merely consolidates his power. He was also credited with arranging Trump’s “successful” trip to Riyadh.
Al Arabiya television reported that the promotion of the prince was approved by the kingdom’s Allegiance Council with 31 of 34 members approving, and that the king had called for a public pledging of loyalty to Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday evening in Mecca. The surprise announcement follows 2-1/2 years of already major changes in Saudi Arabia, which stunned allies in 2015 by launching a war in Yemen, cutting old energy subsidies and in 2016 proposing partly privatizing state oil company Aramco.
As AP further reports, in a series of royal decrees carried on the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the monarch stripped Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who had been positioned to inherit the throne, from his title as crown prince and from his powerful position as the country’s interior minister overseeing security.
The newly announced Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman already oversees a vast portfolio as defense minister and head of an economic council tasked with overhauling the country’s economy. And while he had previously been the second-in-line to the throne as deputy crown prince, numerous royal watchers had suspected his rise to power under his father’s reign might also accelerate his ascension to the throne.
The young prince was little known to Saudis and outsiders before Salman became king in January 2015, although he quickly rose to prominence when he emerged as the dominant voice in the OPEC production cut negotiations. He had previously been in charge of his father’s royal court when Salman was the crown prince. The Saudi monarch awarded his son expansive powers to the surprise of many within the royal family who are more senior and more experienced than Mohammed bin Salman.
King Salman also reinstated all allowances and bonuses that were canceled or suspended to civil servants and military personnel, SPA reported.
While the backroom negotiations that resulted in today’s stunning announcement will likely remain unknown indefinitely, today’s dramatic overhaul of the Saudi royal succession was previewed here as recently as December, when we discussed that the present Saudi king, Salman bin Abdul Aziz, is the last of the sons of the first Saudi king, Abdul Aziz al Saud, who will ever sit on the Saudi throne. After Salman dies, Saudi leadership will pass to a new generation of Saudi royals. But not all the descendants of the first Saudi king are happy about how the future succession may turn out.
Salman named his nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef, as crown prince after firing his half-brother, Mugrin bin Abdul Aziz, as crown prince after the death of King Abdullah in 2015. For good measure, Salman also named his son, Mohammad bin Salman, who is little-known outside the kingdom, as deputy prime minister. The 30-year old Mohammad bin Salman is seen by some as the eventual crown prince after King Salman figures out some way to ease Mohammad bin Nayef, the Interior Minister and close friend of the United States, out of the position of heir apparent to the throne.
More and more power has been concentrated into Mohammad bin Salman’s hands, including control over the Defense Ministry, the Council of Economy and Development, and the Saudi government-owned Arabian-American oil company (ARAMCO). The deputy crown prince and defense minister is the architect of Saudi Arabia’s genocidal military campaign against the Houthi rebels in Yemen and continued Saudi support for jihadist guerrillas in Syria and Iraq, as well as military support for the Wahhabist royal regime in Bahrain in its bloody suppression of the Shi’a Muslim majority population. Mohammad bin Salman is also the major force in Saudi Arabia seeking a military confrontation with Iran.
There is a schism within the Saudi royal family that has created a real-life «Game of Thrones» within the kingdom.
Finally, while it remains unclear what domestic consequences the King’s decision will have, a decree which an official said was “due to special circumstances”, that this major power move comes at a time when OPEC and Saudi Arabia are both reeling, as a result of plunging oil prices leads one to believe that the current deteriorating state of the Saudi economy, coupled with plunging oil revenues, may have been a catalyst in today’s announcement.
Live feed from Saudi TV:
marko on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 6:37 am
This could be fatal
shortonoil on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 7:23 am
“This could be fatal”
Saudi Arabia was already a dead man walking. Her old depleted out fields can no longer cover the Kingdoms expenses. Infighting over the scraps is to be expected. A palace coup, a few beheadings and 10 mb/d becomes 3. As Matt Simmons said, “as goes Ghawar goes the world”. A revolution here, a revolution there, and the oil age has come to its end.
Anyone seen Plan B laying around?
JuanP on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 7:44 am
Just one look at his face is all it takes to realize that the new crown prince is a spoiled selfish prick and a bully. He is likely to be the man who will be in power during the coming kingdom’s collapse. A perfect man for the job. He seems to have a great opinion of himself and suffer from a complete lack of awareness of his flaws and limitations.
ALCIADA-MOLE on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 8:02 am
this is the prince who is everywhere and he’s responsible for liberalizing saudi. he’s the principal proponent of Vision 2030, mostly to wean his nation off oil.
makati1 on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 8:18 am
Mole, they will be weaned off of oil and back onto camels, not alternates. That is, IF they are not destroyed in a war with their neighbors and/or go bankrupt, whichever comes first.
shortonoil on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 8:52 am
If Washington thinks that it can actually collect on these Saudi weapons sales they are dumber than the Russians think they are! They are probably planning on having the the FED loan them the money when they go into default.
http://www.pravdareport.com/world/asia/09-06-2017/137955-saudi_arabia_usa_arms-0/
marko on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 9:06 am
short you are right about everything, but this is personal and it could speed up things rapidly
Apneaman on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 9:12 am
From short’s comment
“However, journalists emphasize, almost two thirds of of those contracts remain in the form of so-called memorandums of intent, that is, an agreements in theory.”
– See more at: http://www.pravdareport.com/world/asia/09-06-2017/137955-saudi_arabia_usa_arms-0/#sthash.6GGKoIM3.dpuf
“agreements in theory” So same as every climate agreement for the last 20 years. So, more bullshit for PR purposes.
shortonoil on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 10:34 am
“but this is personal and it could speed up things rapidly”
It’s a typical Middle East power play. Are the Iranians going to sit around and wait for the Saudis to hit them first, or are the Iranians going to strike before the US can deliver their THAD missile system. It doesn’t look like Trump did us any favors; Saudi is coming apart anyway, changing the balance of power at this point is down right stupid. Washington seems to be more concerned over the Russians having more influence over Middle Eastern oil than it does the world having a Middle East. Washington is being run by a pack of obsessive, myopic lunatics. Following a bunch of crazies into the end of the oil age is just not going to be much fun.
marko on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 10:42 am
The prince is a tough player I don’t think he will sit idle who knows we will see, But these are times of changes definitely
bobinget on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 10:48 am
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/business/energy-environment/saudi-mohammed-oil-opec.html
From our experience, three full time wars, lower oil prices, almost one hundred million oil war refugees,
genocide in Yemen, blockading Qatar, Venezuela,
Nigeria, Syria collapsing or going to China, cheating on quotas, great choice for last King.
q on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 11:03 am
Will war with Iran be next?
Sissyfuss on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 11:05 am
So they go from rearranging deck chairs on the SS Saudi Titanic to playing musical chairs with he who is without one after the music stops gets thrown to the sharks.
shortonoil on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 1:21 pm
“So they go from rearranging deck chairs on the SS Saudi Titanic to playing musical chairs with he who is without one after the music stops gets thrown to the sharks.”
WTI back to $42. Looks like it will be feeding time pretty soon. That is $25 below what SA needs to balance its budget.
onlooker on Wed, 21st Jun 2017 2:17 pm
https://www.rystadenergy.com/NewsEvents/PressReleases/2017-annual-oil-recoverable-resource-review
How convenient.
In its annual account of global oil resources, Rystad Energy finds that Saudi Arabia has added enough recoverable oil resources to regain its top position ahead of the United States and Russia. The addition of 73 billion barrels of recoverable oil since the publication of Rystad Energy’s 2016 annual review comes as a result of lower tax rates for Saudi Aramco. The revised fiscal regime should incentivize more aggressive exploration and development drilling in the country, according to the oil and gas knowledge house.
So, these reserves will be recoverable because they will be taxed less. No mention of how the low and getting lower oil price will factor in. So, we shall see if investors take the bait
joe on Sun, 25th Jun 2017 12:52 am
Saudi and its mercenary army committed agressive war against Yemen. Russia started laying the sea pipes for North Stream gas via Turkey and Greece. Its game over for the house of Saud. Oil demand rises will not offset lower global gdp forever.