The heir apparent of the House of Saud consolidates his power
In an astonishing development over the weekend, the Saudis launched an anti-corruption crackdown in their hometown mandated vide a royal decree passed, by King Salman, hours before the crackdown began. Dozens of former ministers and members of the royal family were taken into custody. Among the apprehended were also four incumbent ministers, currently, serving under King Salman. Interestingly, one of the most famous and richest, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was also arrested, a move that has left many spectators awestruck.
Hours after his arrest, shares in Kingdom Holding, the investment firm owned by Alwaleed, plunged 9.9% in early trade on the Saudi stock market as news of his detention surfaced. As we await further updates pertaining to the strategic arrests, the motive behind the move needs to be determined. The drive is anything but anti-corruption, that part is mostly clear to the analysts witnessing this swift unfolding of events. What possibly could be the reason for a sudden call for accountability? Who seeks to benefit from these arrests? What is the purpose of relinquishing the chief of the National Guard?
There is a one simple answer to the above and that is Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. The heir apparent to the Saudi monarch, is considered to be a dedicated individual. Dedicated to consolidating his power and attain absolute control over the kingdom. The over-ambitious 32 year old has already taken swift and bold decisions in the recent past, in a bid, to enhance his grip on the kingdom.
The focal point of Bin Salman’s Vision 2030 is to effectuate unequivocal control, not only in the kingdom itself but also, throughout Middle East and eventually to become a key player in world politics. There isn’t much doubt to the fact that he already is a key world player even as of today, having successfully managed to secure a visit by Donald Trump to the kingdom. Ironically, it was the President’s maiden foreign visit after taking his seat in the oval office.
Saturday’s move was yet another milestone in asserting his dominance throughout the kingdom. Despite being popular amongst the youth of the nation, there remains dissent against the ambitious prince. The kind of dissent nobody in a position of power can avoid and eventually needs to deal with. Nevertheless, the young prince is moving rather expeditiously and makes absolutely no mistake when it comes to the settling of his affairs. Making pre-planned and calculated moves, Bin Salman has already pre-dominantly established a hegemony throughout the kingdom and continues to do so with one clear motto: You are either with me or against me.
All possible forms of opposition to his ascendance to the thrown are being dealt with timely. Only a few months back the heir apparent of that time Prince Muhammad Bin Nayef relinquished his title and stepped down in favour of the deputy crown prince at the time Muhammad Bin Salman. Western media reports following the event narrated the actual account of events that took place. It seems Prince Nayef wasn’t given much of a choice to make a decision willfully.
Alternatively, the Prince is believed to have developed a strategic friendship with Donald Trump’s trusted aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Having a strong friend such as Kushner can only have its benefits and no adverse consequences. People willingly support leaders who have a higher approach as compared to the others and, in this case, what could possibly be higher than a friendship with the white house chieftain’s top advisor.
The most important point, however, to be considered in the weekend development is the arrest of Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah, who up until his detention served as the Chief of the National Guard. Many of you might not be aware but the Saudi National Guard is an elite internal security force, which is primarily based on tribal traditional units. For simpler understanding, the force has the capacity of becoming a nail in the heir apparent’s crown at a later stage. Any disagreement with the crown prince could have resulted in a coup against him and with the support of the National Guard could have been a successful one. The small but bitter dissent, which the prince felt during the ouster of Prince Nayef, was enough to prepare him for the next. After years of autonomous decisions it was relatively surprising for the allegiance council to have minority opposing votes amongst them too.
Nonetheless, there is a sigh of relief for the crown prince now after managing to cut off the serpent’s head before it even turned towards him. The move most people consider the biggest strength of the prince and makes people fear him even more. Without as much as a blink of an eye the prince leaps forward and eliminates any possible threats that may have incurred during his reign.
In another show of personal strength, the heir apparent single-handedly launched the ongoing offensive against the Houthis in Yemen almost 2 years ago, which has resulted in a catastrophic turn of events for the Yemeni people. There seems no end to the conflict in the near future. Undoubtedly, Riyadh remained at the center of world attention due to another ironic event that took place over the weekend as well.
The Houthis launched a ballistic missile towards Riyadh over the weekend. According to sources the Riyadh airport was the actual target of the missile. Though the missile was intercepted before it could strike, the worrisome fact that requires the Saudis to reconsider their defense capabilities is that the missile reached directly above Riyadh and in a matter of a few seconds could have razed off the airport. The interception, which averted any loss, took place right above the city and reportedly the fragments of the missile scattered all over.
In his power-hungry and thirsty quest for establishing his authority, the Prince seems to have forgotten the presence of higher powers. The simultaneous launch of the missile that close to home might be a message for those who probably didn’t comprehend it. It reminds me of the famous saying: ‘What goes around, comes around’
