It seems the Saudi King is bent upon eliminating all possible aspirants for the Saudi throne after his demise so that his own son Crown prince Muhammad bin Salman should have a smooth sailing as the next King once his number is up.The arrest of a couple of Saudi princes and other notables recently is a case in point. Nobody is going to believe the Saudi government when it says that they have been gaoled because of their involvement in corruption cases .Aren’t those princes who are the blue eyed boys of Saudi monarch less corrupt than those who have been eased out?
The crown prince Muhammad bin Salman is only 32, lacking necessary experience of running the government.He has incurred the wrath of the men of the cloth by embarking upon a policy of modernisation which the clerics bill as westernisation and which they abhor strictly.Once King Salman joins the great majority and he steps into his shoes as King it won’t be beer and Skittles for him.
It appears that the days of smooth transfer of power which have been the Hallmark of Saudi monarchy hitherto are well past.