PUBLICO: Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia .. Four years of lapses

The reforms promised by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman have yet to culminate in tangible progress. Saudi Arabia remains fully dependent on oil exports. The "Vision 2030" is still in a recession, while the political situation is more complicated, Spanish Publico.

In a report by Oguinho Garcia Gascon, Saudi Arabia is experiencing a period of great political complexity four years after King Salman ascended to the throne, although his son still confirms his attachment to his promised reform program, oblivious to the blunders he has committed during these years .

Gasskon called for the Saudi authorities to allow music in cafes and restaurants, coinciding with the fourth anniversary of King Salman's rule and the rise of his ambitious son to the caliphate.

However, the writer underestimated the importance of this step, considering that it is a formal decision is not at the heart of the reform process promised by Mohammed bin Salman, in addition to the fact that this decision is not welcomed by a large part of the Saudi people, and perhaps even the royal palace.

Adventures are expensive
The writer pointed out that the last four years of the history of Saudi Arabia were characterized by costly adventures in all areas, from "internal cleansing" in the circles of power, through neutralizing the rest of the members of the royal family, and ending with the tragic military intervention in Yemen.

Gasskon pointed out that the case of journalist Jamal Khashoggi pushed the Saudi Crown Prince to ease the pressure on some fronts, stressing that this did not change his goals which are still he, he said.

Mohammed Bin Salman continues his adventures in Yemen, and continues to cause many civilian casualties and massive damage to Yemeni infrastructure and facilities.

Gascon was surprised by the continued support of the United States and the Europeans in supporting bin Laden's weapons and others in his war against Yemen despite this tragedy.

Other failures
Yemen is not the only adventure for Mohammed bin Salman, where the Saudi prince has committed loopholes in Qatar, Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq to push Saudi Arabia into a dominant regional power in close harmony with the United States and Israel. .

The writer pointed out that critics of Mohammed bin Salman accuse him of many shortcomings and shortcomings, both at the level of domestic and foreign policy.

These include the suspicious approach of the Crown Prince in relation to the Palestinian cause, which has almost removed it from the agenda of the League of Arab States, turning it into a symbolic and unimportant issue. In contrast, his close relationship with Israel is no longer hidden.

Another of the failures of Mohammed bin Salman is the removal of the principle of unanimity on which the royal family was based, to be replaced by the principle of "tyranny," which the New York Times described as a "revolution from the top."

Over the past four years, the Crown Prince has conducted about 12 ministerial reshuffling processes, something that has never been seen before.

In fact, the Saudi government no longer holds the reins, but Mohammed bin Salman is now monopolizing power and is consulted by some non-Saudi royal family members, a precedent in Saudi Arabia since its inception.

Canceling commissions

On 29 January 2015, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz abolished 12 councils, committees and bodies, replacing them with two chambers: one for political affairs and the other for economic and development affairs.

In addition, the Saudi cabinet has only some symbolic powers. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was ousted from his post as crown prince. King Salman appointed his son Mohammed as Crown Prince, and he served as defense minister and several other positions. In this way he became Crown Prince The strongest man in the kingdom is undisputed.

Although the government still meets every Tuesday, it is just an opportunity to take some pictures, according to Gascon.

In terms of economics, Mohammed bin Salman's plan - Vision 2030 - is still in place without any tangible results.

Although predicting the failure of the project is premature, the nature of the power exercised by the crown prince and some of the other "fenders" involved, such as the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the war in Yemen, could make this project end before it begins. If this happens, the crown prince can pay a heavy price when frustration is felt in the Saudis, which could threaten the stability of the entire kingdom.