Saudi Arabia's royal shuffle
According to a royal decree on 21st June Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef has been relieved of his post and replaced by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a royal decree. Mohammed bin Nayef, was relieved of all his roles, including deputy prime minister and interior minister. Prince Mohammed bin Salman becomes deputy prime minister and retains his defence and other portfolios. Among his most prominent positions is chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, which coordinates economic policy.
The Allegiance Council, a body made up of the living sons of Abdul-Aziz and some of the prominent grandsons who vote to pick the king and crown prince from among them, voted majority in favor of naming Prince Mohammed bin Salman as deputy crown prince, the decree said.
Bruce Riedel, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who directs the Brookings Intelligence Project in Washington, said “He has a reputation for being aggressive and ambitious.”
Even as deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman has been responsible for running Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen, dictating an energy policy with global implications and behind the plans for the kingdom to build a future after oil.
Iran’s state media has criticised changes to regional rival Saudi Arabia’s royal line of succession announced on Wednesday calling them a “soft coup.” The semi-official news agency Fars dubbed it a “political earthquake” and wrote that Nayef had been “ousted”.
In an interview conducted last month, the Saudi prince had suggested that Iran wanted to wrest control of Islam’s holiest sites away from Riyadh and that there could be no dialogue with the regional Shia power. He also vowed to take "the battle" to Iran.
Prince Mohammed is the main proponent of a wide-ranging plan, dubbed Vision 2030, to bring social and economic change.
Other decrees issued by King Salman are:
- Amending Article V from the Kingdom's statute of ruling, which stipulates that only the sons and grandsons of the founding King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Faisal Al Saud can be Saudi kings and crown princes
- Appointing Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the Minister of Interior
- Relieving Abdulrahman bin Ali Al-Rubaiaan from his role as Deputy Minister of Interior and appointing him as a consultant in the Royal Court
- Appointing Dr Ahmed bin Mohammad Al-Salem as Deputy Minister of Interior
- Relieving Dr Nasser bin Abdulazizi Al-Daoud from his role as consultant in the Royal Court, and naming him undersecretary to the Ministry of Interior
- Appointing Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the Kingdom's ambassador to Germany.
- Appointing Prince Faisal bin Sattam bin Abdulazizi Al Saud as the Kingdom's Ambassador to Italy
- Appointing Prince Bandar bin Khalid bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prince Turki bin Mohammad bin Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Faisal bin Abdulazizi bin Abdullah Al-Sudairi as consultants in the Royal Court
- Appointing Prince Bandar bin Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as assistant to the president of the General Intelligence Directorate (GID)
- Appointing Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as vice chairman of the General Sports Authority
- Appointing Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saudi as deputy governor of Al-Jouf Region
- Restoring bonuses and allowances for public sector employees and military personnel retroactively as of September 27, 2016 instead of April 2017, as previously stated.