Succession to the throne (Saudi Arabia)

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The succession in Saudi Arabia is the House of Saud determined. It follows the seniority principle , whereby it is possible that a prince can be skipped or appointed early.

So far, the succession to the throne has been negotiated by consensus among all sons of the state founder Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, who died in 1953 . So far, six of his sons have resided in Riyadh's royal palace: Saud, Faisal, Chalid, Fahd, Abdullah and now Salman.

course

Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz , who was King from 2005 until his death in 2015, appointed his half-brother Sultan as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. However, there were at least three brothers ( Bandar , Musa'id , Mishal ) older than Sultan. They let him take precedence for health reasons, under pressure from the family, or because they simply did not want to participate in the government.

In October 2006, King Abdullah announced the establishment of the Bayʿa Council ( Arabic هيئة البيعة, DMG Haiʾat al-Baiʿa ), which is said to consist of the surviving sons and eldest grandchildren of King Abdul-Aziz, as well as representatives of deceased or disabled sons. In the event of sudden incapacity for work or the death of the king and crown prince, the council should ensure that the transfer of power and the reappointment of a ruler go smoothly. Together with an earlier law by King Fahd, there is now the possibility that the grandchildren of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud may be candidates. In addition to age, there seem to be the following further decision criteria:

  • The support of the candidate within the Saud dynasty
  • Government experience
  • Tribal affiliation of the candidate's mother
  • Practice of religion
  • Acceptance by the ulama
  • Support from the country's business leaders
  • Popular with the Saudi population

The reform was implemented in October 2007.

Crown Prince Sultan died on October 21, 2011. Thereupon Naif ibn Abd al-Aziz was appointed the new Crown Prince. A few months later, Naif died on June 16, 2012. His brother Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz , who also remained Minister of Defense, was appointed as Crown Prince's successor on June 18, 2012 . On March 27, 2014, Muqrin ibn Abd al-Aziz was appointed Deputy Crown Prince by King Abdullah. With the death of King Abdullah on January 23, 2015, Salman became king and Muqrin became crown prince. Thereupon the new King Salman appointed his nephew Mohammed ibn Naif as deputy crown prince. On April 29, 2015, King Salman granted Muqrin and relieved him from the office of Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister. Thereupon Mohammed ibn Naif moved into the position of Crown Prince and King Salman appointed his son Mohammed ibn Salman as the new Deputy Crown Prince. This meant that all posts in the line of succession were filled with members or descendants of the Sudairi Seven .

On June 21, 2017, the king dismissed the previous Crown Prince Mohammed ibn Naif from his offices and the previous Vice-Crown Prince Mohammed ibn Salman rose to become Crown Prince.

Current heir to the throne

Mohammed bin Salman (* 1985) is Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

literature

  • Uwe Pfullmann: Succession to the throne in Saudi Arabia. Wahhabi family policy from 1744 to 1953 . Verlag Das Arabische Buch, Berlin 1997. ISBN 978-3-86093-142-4
  • Guido Steinberg: Succession to the throne in Saudi Arabia. Refusal to reform and disputes in the ruling family threaten the stability of the regime . (= SWP Current). Science and Politics Foundation, Berlin 2011 ( full text )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hugh Miles: Saudi king loses power to choose successor . The Telegraph. February 10, 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  2. ↑ Saudi King Details Succession Law . BBCnews. October 9, 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  3. ↑ Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Sultan dies . BBCnews. October 22, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  4. ↑ Saudi King names Prince Nayef as the kingdom's heir and deputy prime minister ( Memento from October 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz new Crown Prince. Retrieved June 18, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Saudi Prince Muqrin named second-in-line to succeed king
  7. ↑ Difficult times for the new Saudi king
  8. ↑ King initiates generation change
  9. ↑ Nicole Chavez and Tamara Qiblawi: Saudi Arabia's crown prince deposed ( English ) CNN. June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.