How long Bin Salman can suppress the Royal uprising? Shafaqna Special

by Tauqeer Abbas
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Though Muhammad Bin Salman has been considered as the strong man of Saudi Arabia and the one who is running the Saudi Monarchy. He enjoys complete autonomy in his decisions and even King Salman does not dare to rebuff his decisions yet he has been struggling since long to consolidate his powers against the rival princes. He has faced several assassinations attempts and coup plots against him because he is not a wanted person among Saudi Royls who are afraid of his stubborn and aggressive nature.

Not even members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, which boasts some 15,000 members worldwide, are safe from the grip of the current heir-apparent, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — commonly known as MbS. There have been several waves of arrest over recent years, the latest being in March, when about a dozen high-profile family members were detained.However, it was the arrest of 37-year-old Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz and his father back in 2018 that drew international attention and subsequently triggered a major campaign for their release.

MBS has been defacto ruler of Saudia since last three years and in that  time he has fast-tracked a string of domestic reforms that have made the country almost unrecognizable.Those developments, however, have been undermined and overshadowed on the world stage by his relentless appetite for crushing threats to his legitimacy.A journalist was murdered, activists have been silenced, dissidents living in exile were hacked or threatened, and royals have been jailed and made to bend the knee.

Though Muhammad Bin Salman his silently silencing his opponents, the biggest threat he feels is from Muhammad Bin Nayef, a favorite of the US and the sole rallying point for opposition to MBS’s claim on the throne. Bin Nayef is the nephew of King Salman, and cousin to MBS. Bin Nayef has been effectively under house arrest since he was ousted as crown prince in June 2017, according to The New York Times, and is now monitored by guards loyal to MBS, according to The Wall Street Journal.

On March 6, 2020, MBS had bin Nayef formally arrested and accused of plotting to seize the Saudi throne from King Salman and MBS, The Journal reported. Though Muhammad Bin Nayef has been under house arrest, yet his loyal are still plotting against Muhamamd Bin Salman, which are often sidelined by MBS in the name of corruption and transgresses.

Just a day ago, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sacked two royals and referred them along with four military officers for investigation into corruption at the defence ministry in a royal decree issued early on Tuesday and carried by state media.Joint forces commander Prince Fahad bin Turki — a senior royal family member — and Abdulaziz bin Fahad, the deputy emir of northern Al-Jouf region, were fired and placed under investigation for corruption, according to the report.

It said the decision was based on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s missive to the anti-corruption committee to investigate “suspicious financial transactions at the defence ministry”. Though apparently these royals were arrested on the charges of corruption yet the reason is palace intriguing that Bin Salman failed to control since he came into power. Bin Salman is considered as a threat among the royals and companions of Muhamamd Bin Nayef are constantly planning to dislodge Bin Salman or assassinate him.

Though Bin Salman is fighting these conspiracies yet it would become difficult to silencing all the rival for Bin Salman because he many not face any uprising from the Saudi Royas which are so far silently watching the show.

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