King’s half-brother out, nephew in as crown prince
Minister likely to be replaced after changes at state-owned Aramco
The Saudi king on Wednesday removed his half-brother from the post of crown prince, replacing him with his nephew, and elevated his son to the position of deputy crown prince in the most significant repositioning of power among members of the kingdom’s royal family since King Salman assumed the throne in January.
The appointments, announced in a decree from the royal court, further thrust a new generation of Saudi princes into the line of succession and mapped out the future of the throne for potentially decades to come.
The post of crown prince secures Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as the most likely successor to the king. The prince, who is also the interior minister, is widely known internationally as Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism czar and was previously also deputy crown prince.
The prince becomes the first from among his generation to be elevated to such a high position — first in line to the throne. He has survived several assassination attempts, including one in 2009 by al- Qaida. He takes over the post of crown prince from Prince Muqrin.
The royal decree also announced that the king ’s son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had been appointed deputy crown prince. He is believed to be around 30 years old and is also the country’s defence minister. As deputy crown prince, he is essentially seen as being second in line to the throne.
The newly appointed crown prince and deputy crown prince are both from among a generation of grandsons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, the late King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, whose sons have passed power among one another — from brother to brother — since his death in 1953.
The royal decree said that the appointments were made in line with the kingdom’s founding principle of “continuity on the basis of service to faith, the nation and the people, and what is good for its loyal people.”
As the new crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef will continue to oversee the country’s massive police force and border guards as interior minister. As crown prince, he will also serve as deputy prime minister. His late father was the elder full-brother of 79-year-old King Salman.
The moves come as the U.S.-allied monarchy is facing a number of challenges, including creating millions of jobs for its mostly young population, low oil prices that have forced the country to dig into its massive financial reserves, and security threats both internally from terrorist groups and externally along its borders with Iraq and Yemen.
Since assuming the throne after the death of his half-brother King Abdullah in January, the new monarch has presided over a more proactive foreign policy, including Saudi-led airstrikes launched in March against Shiite rebels in Yemen, known as Houthis, who are supported by Iran. Riyadh, under Abdullah, joined the U.S.-led coalition carrying out airstrikes on Islamic State extremists in Syria and helping arm rebels seeking to oust President Bashar Assad, another ally of Iran.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is overseeing the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen, will remain defence minister as he takes on the title of deputy crown prince. He also heads a massive council that oversees all economic and development issues.
The prince was replaced as the head of his father’s royal court by Hamad al-Sweillam.
The position is similar to that of a gatekeeper to the king. The decree also ordered a payment of one month’s additional salary to all Saudi citizens working in the country’s security or armed forces, including civilians.
Another critical change in the cabinet reshuffle was the removal of longtime Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who was replaced with Adel al-Jubeir, the kingdom’s current ambassador to the United States.
The 75-year-old Saud al-Faisal, who’d served as foreign minister for 40 years, spent several months this year receiving medical treatment abroad. The decree cited “health conditions” as the reason for his retirement.
The post of crown prince secures Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as the most likely successor to the king.
Saudi Arabia is likely grooming Khalid Al-Falih to replace Ali Al Naimi as oil minister, as the kingdom prepares for more uncertainty in oil markets.
On Wednesday, Saudi King Salman initiated a number of significant changes, including the promotion of Al-Falih as chairman of state-owned Saudi Aramco, a position previously held by Ali Al-Naimi, the 80-year-old oil minister.
Al-Falih, 55, who joined Aramco in 1979, and became its president and chief executive in 2009, now appears most likely to succeed Al-Naimi, given the kingdom’s longstanding tradition of promoting non-royals to the all-important position.
“It will be interesting to see if this is a precursor to him moving into the position of oil minister in the near future as the King continues to move in new blood,” said Emad Mostaque, analyst at Londonbased Ecstrat in a note. “It should also be noted that another son of King Salman, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman (55) is the assistant oil minister.”
Since taking over four months ago after King Abdullah bin Abulaziz’s death in January, King Salman has pursued a muscular economic and foreign policy, assembling a regional coalition to attack Yemen, changing key personnel and raising the country’s oil production to record levels to capture greater market share.
Al-Naimi has reportedly been considering retirement for a few years, but was asked to stay on by the late king and then survived a major reshuffle when Salman took over. In another move that points to Al-Falih’s rise, he was also handed the crucial role of minister of health, giving him a prized cabinet seat.
Saudi Arabia’s latest budget saw a 50 per cent rise in health care spending — the second largest budgetary allocation after education.
Al-Naimi, who has steered Saudi Arabia’s through a number of oil price dips, is spearheading the kingdom’s strategy to maintain output even as oil prices declined 50 per cent in less than a year.
The strategy has yet to pay off, as Saudi Arabia has not managed to vanquish high-cost producers such as the Canadian oilsands and U.S. tight oil players.
In addition, archrival Iran is also eyeing a return to the oil markets after a tentative agreement with global powers over its nuclear enrichment program.
“June looks to be a crucial month for Saudi Arabia on a number of fronts, with the OPEC meeting at the end of the month likely pressuring them to stop their current increases in oil production (and), Iranian crude potentially returning to the market,” Mostaque said.
Notably, Salman has left Aramco’s chief executive position vacant, leading to speculation that he may be grooming his son Abdulaziz, a regular participant in OPEC meetings, to run the world’s largest exploration and production company.
Salman also elevated Muhammad Bin Nayef to crown prince after his brother Prince Muqrin asked to step down, according to the royal court. Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Salman’s son and current defence minister, was named as deputy crown prince and second in line to the throne.