Prince Mohammed has sought to establish himself as a champion of liberal Islam. (file)
Riyadh:
From greeting foreign leaders to leading regional summits, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is taking over the reins from his aging father and becoming Saudi Arabia’s uncrowned monarch.
With growing concerns over the health of nearly 86-year-old King Salman, 36-year-old Prince Mohammed is taking charge of presidential meetings and receptions of dignitaries, the king rarely makes a public appearance.
While Prince Mohammed has been considered the de facto leader since his appointment as heir to the throne in June 2017, his rising prominence has never been more evident when he met with French President Emmanuel Macron in early December and the Gulf Cooperation Council. led the summit. on Tuesday.
King Salman, who usually presides over the annual meeting after a warm hug and friendly handshake, was no show.
Yasmin Farooq of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said, “The idea that a Crown Prince is the de facto ruler of the country, meeting foreign presidents and presiding over summits, only happened before when the Saudi king was not in good health.” AFP.
“What’s new is the national and media acceptance of a parallel, even more important role for the Crown Prince when King Salman has fulfilled all of his duties.”
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, King Salman has been living in Neom, a future development on the Red Sea.
His last meeting with a foreign official in Riyadh was in March 2020, when he sat with Dominic Raab, the then UK Foreign Minister, and his last visit abroad was in January 2020 to Oman to mourn the death of Sultan Qaboos. Was.
royal cover
Prince Mohammed has sought to position himself as a champion of moderate Islam, even as his international reputation was hit by the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the murder at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate .
The Crown Prince, also known as MBS, has opened up Saudi Arabia to tourists and foreign investment in an effort to diversify the economy of the world’s largest oil exporting economy away from crude.
She has overseen broad social changes, including allowing women to drive and work in the public sector, enabling citizens to enjoy additional income and recreational outlets opening across the country.
These changes have come with action on dissent and freedom of expression.
He seemed more open to Israel than his father, allowing his commercial planes to pass through Saudi airspace.
According to Kristin Dewan of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, Prince Mohammed has the advantage of the king’s longevity.
“Their current presence speaks to MBS’s traditional right to cover youth and unconventional works, while rarely impeding them,” he told AFP news agency.
Saudi officials did not explain why King Salman was not present at Tuesday’s summit, especially since he gave a televised speech on the country’s budget earlier in the week.
However, Saudi government adviser Ali Shihabi said the king was fine and was just being careful.
“Reliable sources confirm that King is in excellent health, exercising every day, but is 86 years old and uncomfortable wearing a mask and has a tendency to shake hands and greet people warmly, so to keep him safe.” Extra precautions are taken and away from public mtgs,” Shihabi tweeted on Wednesday.
Rivals Kicked Out
Prince Mohammed embarked on a tour of the Gulf ahead of the summit, meeting with the heads of member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
“Any current arrangement with the royal court is only through the office of the Crown Prince,” a Western diplomat on condition of anonymity told AFP.
“The king is no longer in the picture… (Prince Mohammed) is no longer a king, he is a king in the palace.”
His path to the throne is clear and has been for some time, with no hindrance after he has knocked out one rival after another.
“There is no identifiable source of effective opposition, inside or outside the royal family,” said Washington-based Middle East expert Hussein Ibish.
He added that “MBS is actually becoming more prominent and powerful”.
Despite some concern that the international community would not want to deal with Prince Mohammed, especially after the Khashoggi killing, a Riyadh-based diplomat said such fears “ended after Macron’s visit to Saudi Arabia”.
While US President Joe Biden vowed a tougher approach than his predecessor Donald Trump, and has yet to communicate directly with Prince Mohammed, the administration has made it clear that this is inevitable.
“It is only a matter of time,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
,