High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights.
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has named Naif bin Abdelaziz, 77, as crown prince and deputy prime minister, a choice that surprised few but has raised some concerns about the direction in which the conservative prince will take the kingdom.
“The king has notified the chief and members of the Allegiance Council of his choice,” the royal court said in a statement late on Thursday. “The king instructed the princes to pledge allegiance to Prince Naif bin Abdelaziz as crown prince.”
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/84b80f6c-013b-11e1-b177-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1c8bv7dnY
Crown Prince Sultan, who was defence minister, died in New York on Saturday aged 80 after a long illness. Leaked US diplomatic cables dating to 2009 said he had colon cancer. The key defence post, however, remains vacant.
Prince Naif, who is also interior minister, will accede to the throne after King Abdullah, 87, who is recovering from the third surgery to his back in less than a year. While Prince Naif’s succession is not likely to affect Saudi Arabia’s close ties with the west, Saudi and western observers are concerned that the prince may put a brake on the limited political and social gains introduced by King Abdullah since he took over in 2005. Prince Naif is known for his links with the austere religious establishment, conservative views on women and intolerance to any hint of political dissent. Last year he rebuffed calls to elect members of the shura council, a consultative body appointed by the king, saying that he preferred royal appointments to elections.
As interior minister since 1975, he helped quell two main challenges to the Saudi royal family: the siege of Mecca by Saudi extremists in 1979 and a campaign of terrorism waged by al-Qaeda affiliates from 2003 until 2006. Critics, however, note that he failed to predict or pre-empt both events.
Other analysts disagree and note that his close ties with the radicals would enable him to push for necessary reforms without the level of resistance that King Abdullah has faced. Despite his reputation, Prince Naif facilitated the issuing of photo IDs for women, considered against Islam by the conservatives, and forced the religious squads, a bearded team of men who enforce gender segregation in public places throughout the kingdom, not to make arrests without the presence of regular police.
“Everybody is scared Saudi Arabia will go backward in western terms. I am not,’’ said Robert Lacey, author of Inside the Kingdom. “I think in the reign of King Naif, women will drive. It will be like Nixon to China, only Nixon could go to China. Only Naif can do something like that.’’
Succession in Saudi Arabia passes from brother to brother, rather than from father to son. Since the death of King Abdelaziz, the kingdom’s founder, in 1953, five of his sons have succeeded each other.
Given the age and ambition of the sons and a general Saudi aversion to going against tradition, concerns are raised over the prospect of a rapid succession of ailing monarchs in the coming 10 to 15 years.
King Abdullah appointed Prince Naif as second deputy prime minister in March 2009, a post traditionally held by the next in line, ending speculation about jumping to a younger generation of princes and strongly suggesting that Crown Prince Sultan’s illness was terminal.
Many conservative Saudis on social media platforms welcomed the appointment, pointing out that it was a victory against the “westernised liberals’’, women’s rights advocates and enemies of the religious police. Others lamented that the people were excluded from the appointment process, in violation of Islamic rules, and compared their country with North Korea.
Source: ft.com