MBS says reforms aimed at ‘cancer’ of corruption; Hariri meets king
RIYADH/BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince says the anti-corruption drive launched late last year is the “shock therapy” his kingdom needs to root out widespread graft. “You have a body that has cancer everywhere, the cancer of corruption. You need to have chemo, the shock of chemo, or the cancer will eat the body,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Washington Post in an interview published Tuesday night. “The kingdom couldn’t meet budget targets without halting this looting,” he said.
In the latest move for change, a dramatic shake-up announced in royal decrees late Monday saw top brass, including the chief of staff and heads of the ground forces and air defense, replaced and a broad defense reform plan approved. The government bureaucracy is also to be overhauled. The crown prince said the shake-up announced by his father, King Salman, was aimed at installing “high energy” people who could achieve modernization targets. “We want to work with believers,” the crown prince told the US paper.
Authorities rounded up dozens of princes, top officials and businessmen in November on Prince Mohammed’s orders, with many confined and interrogated at Riyadh’s glitzy Ritz-Carlton Hotel. “The corrupted princes were a minority, but the bad actors got more attention. It harmed the energy of the royal family,” he said.
Prince Mohammed said in the interview he maintains support from the royal family despite internal divisions that have occasionally spilled into public, such as when 11 princes were arrested last month for allegedly protesting against the government cutting payment of their utility bills. His ambitious reform agenda, which is popular with much of Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning youth population, faces resistance from some of the old guard more comfortable with the kingdom’s traditions of incremental change and rule by consensus.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met Saudi King Salman yesterday, in his first visit back to the country since his resignation in the kingdom sparked a crisis between the longtime allies. Hariri announced on November 4 that he was stepping down in a televised address from Riyadh, only to rescind it the following month after France intervened. The shock resignation had stirred tensions between Riyadh and Beirut, amid suspicions he had been placed under house arrest.
Saudi Arabia’s state news agency SPA said Hariri and King Salman discussed “bilateral relations and recent developments in Lebanon”. It published pictures of the two leaders locked in a firm handshake, smiling and drinking coffee. The meeting was attended by Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef and Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir, amongst others, SPA reported. It did not say if Prince Mohammed was present.
Hariri’s office had previously said he would meet with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed. The Washington Post said yesterday Prince Mohammed complained he had been unfairly criticized over Hariri’s resignation. “Now he’s in a better position,” the newspaper quoted the crown prince as saying. Hariri’s visit comes after a meeting Monday in Beirut with Saudi envoy Nizar Al-Alula during which Hariri said he received and accepted an invitation to travel to Riyadh. Alula also met Hezbollah ally President Michel Aoun, who told him of Lebanon’s desire to “maintain the best relations” with the oil-rich Gulf state. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, also a Hezbollah ally, said he had heard “very positive talk” from Alula about Lebanon and “its historical and civilized role”, a statement from Berri’s office said.