Mohammad bin Salman ... clear cut talk on 60 Minutes
Opinion
FOR a leader at the level of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to talk with liberality, frankness and transparency as he did in response to provocative questions he faced during the 60 Minutes program broadcast by American satellite channel ‘CBS’, especially on the issue of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is a manifestation of his strength, stability and reassurance that Saudi Arabia is on the right path and there is no cause for alarm.
In the past year, several statements and reports were released indicting the number two man in the Kingdom for the heinous crime, but he was clear in putting the record straight by declaring that the law is above everyone and authorities do the accountability. It has absolute prerogative to determine the culprits and the punishment they deserve. It is worth noting that the Kingdom has about three million employees, so it is impossible for them to submit daily reports to their supervisors.
Prince Mohammad bin Salman went beyond the imaginable limit, or rather unusual for an official at his level in the Arab world. It is a norm to give massive cover to statements made by an official while dressing his utterances with some diplomacy. But for him to say, “The crime was heinous but I take full responsibility as a leader in the Kingdom, especially since the perpetrators are State officials working for the government,” the statement itself shut all the noise being made to destabilize Saudi’s strategy that is built on foresight and different from the vision of past decades.
The man has moved the leadership issue closer from the corner with bravery that surpasses the past – whether in terms of the war in Yemen enforced on the Kingdom by the IranianHouthi terrorism coalition or the attack on ARAMCO which is tantamount to an attack on the global energy, not only the Kingdom or domestic affairs.
Mohammad bin Salman responded within 60 minutes to all the commotion caused by the Brotherhood gangsters and supporter countries in four years with the intention of weakening the Kingdom and pushing it into multitude of chaos to actualize dirty objectives. However, frank talk came from the field commander who supervises the renaissance plan and puts the rule of law above everything.
For this, Mohammad bin Salman entered the den of that destructive system shattering all its structures in his response to what the presenter called, “Saudi opposition.” He declared: “The Kingdom is a State controlled by law. I may not agree to some laws, I must respect them until they are amended since these are the laws being implemented today.” He pointed out that the law does not hurt those operating within its limits, but those who choose to manipulate the law just to gain fame will receive response from Saudis who affirm everyday that the country is moving in the right direction to attain its development goals.
There has never been a Saudi era that witnessed such a violent war as in the era of King Salman and his Crown Prince Mohammad. In contrast, this kind of transparent and strong confrontation from the top is unprecedented. Whoever watched the interview will realize that questions posed to the Saudi Crown Prince were a collection of suppositions being orchestrated in the past years and he calmly dealt with them. He rendered them as rainless clouds; thereby, affirming the ability of this engine to move towards the future more steadily and stronger than ever before.