Shifting sands

Hitherto the pace of change, social and political, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been exceedingly slow

Hitherto the pace of change, social and political, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been exceedingly slow. It is a deeply conservative tribal society ruled by an absolute monarchy consisting of scions of the House of Saud. Politics and political parties are entirely absent in a conventional sense, which allows the ruling families to ride the internal currents and dynamics in a quasi-political manner. The King, Salman, is 81 and reportedly in poor health, and it is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who is going to be there to see KSA into the post-oil world, perhaps 20 years hence, and he is consolidating his power.

The arrest has been made of 11 princes which include a prominent billionaire with a global profile and dozens of current and former ministers, some from the royal family and others not. New ministers have been quickly appointed and the King has announced the immediate formation of a new anti-corruption committee to be chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Private aircraft, the preferred mode of transport for many of the KSA’s wealthiest, has been grounded at Jeddah presumably to prevent the flight of those that might find themselves detained.

These events are unprecedented in modern KSA history and care has to be exercised as to how they are interpreted. At the very least they suggest that there is change afoot at a pace that is taking many by surprise. Corruption, it is said, is to be addressed with the same diligence as the fight against terrorism. Prince Mohammed has now consolidated his control of the KSA security institutions that have hitherto been headed by two different arms of the ruling family. To move as decisively as this and apparently unbeknownst to those who have been detained suggests that he is operating from a position of considerable strength and is unconcerned about any clerical or tribal backlash. This should not be in any way interpreted as another example of the ‘liberalism’ that has seen women allowed to drive and attend sports events. This is a ruthless redistribution of power, and similar actions could follow.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2017.

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