Saudi Power Struggle

Originally published on Home – Stephen Lendman.

On Wednesday, head of the Saudi family dictatorship king Salman replaced prince Mohammed bin Yayef as heir apparent in favor of prince Mohammed bin Salman, his son.

He’s currently chief of the Saudi royal court and council for economic and development affairs head, responsible for running the country’s economy, including its long term plan to be less oil-dependent. According to some observers, he’s already the power behind the thrown.

In some respects, Saudi Arabia is like America. Ordinary citizens of both countries have no say over how their countries are run – for and by their privileged class exclusively, no others, for their war OF terror, not on it, for homeland repression against nonbelievers.

The younger Salman’s elevation was no surprise (MS below), just the timing, sooner than expected. In Saudi Arabia, like other family dictatorships, regionally or elsewhere, rule is all in the family, others excluded.

King Salman, aged-81, reportedly is in poor health, what likely prompted his move at this time. If he dies in the coming months, his son will become the youngest king in the country’s history.

A power struggle has been ongoing to succeed him since he assumed the throne in January 2015 – because of his reported failing health.

Defrocked crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef is his nephew, stripped of his position as interior minister as well.

As defense minister, MS is responsible for supporting ISIS, al-Nusra and other regional terrorist groups, along with waging naked aggression on Yemen – creating a biblical level catastrophe, worsening as conflict continues endlessly.

MS may be behind Riyadh’s hostility toward Qatar. As newly appointed crown prince, he’ll remain Saudi defense minister and assume a new position as deputy prime minister.

On Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency said 31 out of 34 members of the kingdom’s succession committee chose him as new crown prince.

It’s rumored that king Salman may abdicate the thrown in favor of his son, passing the baton while still alive, maybe with not much time left to do it.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home – Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

Featured image: PressTV


Articles by: Stephen Lendman

About the author:

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]