Appointment of crown prince marks generational shift in Saudi Kingdom By Tazeen Hasan on May 12, 2015
Former Minister of Interior and close friend to US, Prince Muhammad Bin Nayef is appointed as new heir to the Saudi Arabian throne
RIYADH—King Salman surprised the world with the announcement of cabinet reshuffle and appointment of his nephew Muhammad Bin Nayef, 55, as the new heir to the Saudi throne on Wednesday.
He is the first grandson of the kingdom’s founder, King Abdul Aziz, to join the line of succession. Experts believe his announcement is the inauguration of a big upheaval in the regional as well as global politics.
Prince Nayef has held numerous designations of highest significance in the Kingdom since his appointment as Assistant Interior Minister in 1999 and is currently acting as the Interior Minister since 2012. He is regarded as the chief architect of the Kingdom’s counter-terrorism program and an effective fighter against Al-Qaeda and Islamists.
He has been instrumental in crushing Arab Spring demonstrations and has been criticised by human rights groups for imprisoning thousands of demonstrators and certain other human rights abuses. He is also actively involved in the military operation against Yemen.
Nayef, a veteran security chief trained by FBI and Scotland Yard, is also known for his frequent media exposure as compared to other figures in Saudi royal family. Nayef has survived at least four assassination attempts, one of them allegedly from Al-Qaeda.
Prince Nayef is now the youngest member of the select group of princes at the top of government who control the most important portfolios such as foreign affairs, intelligence and defence.
US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks show him to be somewhat hawkish on Iran, consulting American officials on how best to protect key infrastructure “when at war with Iran”.
Surprisingly, according to another Wikileaks document, he was cited by White house as a de-facto Interior Minister in 2009 much before taking an oath for the designation during King Abdullah’s reign. After his appointment as Interior Minister in 2012, US diplomats argued that he is “the most pro-American minister in the Saudi Cabinet”.
Unlike other royal family members, Nayef has been a media favourite. Wikileaks has exposed his meetings minutes with Richard Halbrook and General Jones focused on the role of Pakistan in Afghanistan. According to reports of the Obama-Nayef meeting in January 2013, he is the most pro-American member of Saudi Cabinet. He is also cited as a close US friend and favourite as well as a scourge of Islamic Militants.
He is accused of institutionalising human rights abuse practices of his father, who was known for zero tolerance for dissent. Brutal punishments have been given to human rights activists during his tenure as Interior Minister, a good example for which Waleed Abu al-Khair, currently serving 15-year for critical analysis of human rights abuses in the kingdom and Fadhil al-Manasif, serving 14 years for publicising Arab Spring demonstrations. He is also notorious for introducing counter-terrorism regulations that curb freedom of expression
Under his watch, authorities have rooted out nearly all informal Saudi human rights organisations and punished their activists.
Prince Nayef also met with David Cameron, British Prime Minister, in January 2013. He was made chief of Syria affairs in February 2014 and was accused by Iraq Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki of intervening in Syria and Iraq on sectarian basis playing a negative role.
Analysts view the changes as a political cataclysm. According to Khalil Jahshan, an expert on the country, “the Saudi Arabia we knew a few hours ago is no longer. These are serious changes that will have repercussions not only domestically, but also internationally”.
– Tazeen Hasan, Correspondent (Asia: Middle East & Central)
Image Courtesy: Sam DeLong (https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfsminid/6602270483), Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic | Flickr
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