Page 20 - Pakistan Link - November 10, 2017

P20 – PAKISTAN LINK – NOVEMBER 10, 2017 COMMENTARY
Mohammed bin Salman: Reformist Crown Prince with a Firm Vision

ince his emergence in June as crown Waleed bin Talal, one of the world’s richest
prince of the world’s oil superpower, men with extensive holdings in Western
SMohammed bin Salman, 32, has set companies, as well as two of the late King
his sights firmly on economic, social and Abdullah’s sons.
religious reforms in the ultraconservative The arrest of senior princes upends a
kingdom. longstanding tradition among the ruling Al
The young and dynamic prince, known Saud family to keep their disagreements pri-
by his initials MBS, has already overseen the vate in an effort to show strength and unity
most fundamental cultural and economic in the face of Saudi Arabia’s many tribes and
transformation in the modern history of the factions.
Gulf state, half of whose 31-million popula- It also sends a message that the 32-year-
tion is aged under 25. old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman,
At an investor summit in late October, has the full backing of his father, King
MBS pledged a “moderate” Saudi Arabia, Salman, to carry out sweeping anti-corrup-
long seen as an exporter of a brand of pu- tion reforms targeting senior royals and their
ritanical Islam espoused by jihadists world- business associates, who have long been seen
wide. as operating above the law.
“We will not spend the next 30 years of Reports suggested those detained were
our lives dealing with destructive ideas. We being held at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh,
will destroy them today and at once,” said the which only days earlier hosted a major in-
prince, who has sidelined powerful clergy hammed has been shoring up power and He also holds the post of defense min- vestment conference that the crown prince
who have long dominated public discourse over the summer carried out a wave of arrests ister more than two years into a Saudi-led attended with global business titans. A Saudi
in Saudi Arabia. in a crackdown on dissenters, including in- military intervention in neighboring Yemen. official told The Associated Press that other
In September, a royal decree said wom- fluential clerics and some liberals who could In a dramatic announcement on June 5, five-star hotels across the capital were also
en would be allowed to drive. block his path. Mohammed bin Salman was named to re- being used to hold some of those arrested.
Some conservative clerics — who for Sweeping crackdown: On the business place his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, as The Ritz Carlton had no availability for
years staunchly opposed more social liberties front, the prince was named head of a new heir to the Saudi throne. He had been sec- bookings until December 1, 2017, a possible
for women — have backpedalled and come anti-corruption commission, established by ond-in-line since early 2015. sign that an investigation of this scale could
out in favor of the decree allowing them to royal decree, on late Saturday. Born on August 31, 1985, MBS gradu- take weeks. Marriott International said in a
drive. Immediately after, 11 princes, including ated in law from Riyadh’s King Saud Univer- statement that it is currently evaluating the
Under the crown prince, the kingdom is prominent billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin sity, and the dark-bearded prince with a re- situation at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, but
also expected to lift a public ban on cinemas Talal, and dozens of current and former min- ceding hairline is the father of two boys and declined to comment further, citing privacy
and has encouraged mixed-gender celebra- isters were arrested, in a sweeping crackdown two girls. concerns.
tions — something unseen before. seen as consolidating the crown prince’s hold Saudi arrests of senior royals: Saudi A Saudi government official with close
The government has also set up an Is- on power. Arabia’s heir to the throne is overseeing an ties to security forces said 11 princes and 38
lamic center tasked with certifying the say- MBS is the architect of a wide-ranging unprecedented wave of arrests of dozens of others were being questioned. The surprise
ings of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in a plan dubbed Vision 2030 to bring social and the country’s most powerful princes, military arrests were immediately hailed by pro-gov-
stated bid to curb extremist texts. economic change to Saudi Arabia’s oil-de- officers, influential businessmen and govern- ernment media outlets as the clearest sign yet
The government appears to have clipped pendent economy. ment ministers — some potential rivals or that Prince Mohammed is keeping his prom-
the wings of the once-feared religious police Among his most prominent positions critics of the crown prince now consolidat- ise to reform the country, wean its economy
— long accused of harassing the public with is chairman of the Council of Economic and ing his power. from its dependence on oil and liberalize
rigid Islamic mores — who have all but dis- Development Affairs, which coordinates eco- Among those taken into custody over- some aspects of the ultraconservative society.
appeared from big cities. nomic policy. Mohammed also chairs a body night on Saturday in the purported anti- The kingdom’s top council of clerics
In tandem with reforms, Prince Mo- overseeing state oil giant Saudi Aramco. corruption sweep were billionaire Prince Al REFORMIST, P24

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