Without ceasing to be the crown prince, Mohamed bin Salman is also the prime minister of Saudi Arabia since Tuesday. While his younger brother, Khaled bin Salman, succeeds him as defense minister. This is established by a government remodeling decree issued by King Salman, father of both.
On paper, until now, the position of prime minister also fell on the shoulders of the Saudi monarch. It had been that way since the days of King Faisal, sixty years ago. In the case of Mohamed Bin Salman, it is doubtful that elevating him to prime ministerial status will add an ounce of power to him. It is well known that the prince has been, for years, the factotum of the kingdom, given the illness of his father. However, he can make his presence in international forums such as the G-20 more comparable.
The government reshuffle, more than anything, puts the spotlight on his younger brother, Khaled bin Salman, previously deputy minister and now defense minister. And when the succession occurs, perhaps prime minister.
Given the vertical nature of Saudi power, the concrete consequences of the impeachment ball are debatable. Beyond the relief that Mohamed bin Salman may be getting rid of a portfolio, that of Defense, which has clouded his image as much or more than the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, due to the disastrous course of the war in Yemen, which he He launched.
His brother Khalid, by the way, was at that time the kingdom’s ambassador to the US, which was also Khashoggi’s country of residence and where his critical articles in The Washington Post hurt the most. Previously, Khalid had trained as a fighter pilot in the United States.
When he was appointed ambassador to Washington – replacing the prince who handled Saudi espionage from the 1980s until 9/11 – a capital think tank compared him to Bandar bin Sultan, the prince who served as a liaison between the Saudi Royal House and the United States. United for two decades.
An aspect that may be reassuring in Washington, where Riyadh’s neutrality regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine or its recent candidacy for the BRICS bloc – which includes Russia, India and China – is viewed with some concern, not to mention the trial balloons regarding its possible acceptance of yuan instead of dollars in exchange for its oil.
The octogenarian King Salman would have said, in any case, that he will continue to chair the meetings of the Council of Ministers when he attends them. It is not clear whether Khaled will also hold the position of deputy prime minister, held until now by his brother Mohamed bin Salman.
Both appointments will not go unnoticed in the large ranks of Saudi royalty. It should be remembered that, since the founder of the kingdom, Abdulaziz al Saud, handed over the throne to one of his sons upon his death, he has passed from brother to brother. The next succession will be the first from father to son in seven decades, which generates misgivings, due to the dynastic temptation that it entails.
