Saudi Arabia: Problems, Problems Again and More Problems | New Eastern Outlook
Saudi Arabia: Problems, Problems Again and More Problems
As the current Saudi King Salman Bin
Abdul-Aziz Al Saud ages, the complex problem regarding selection of his
successor becomes increasingly serious. Who will be the next Saudi
ruler, what policy will he choose, and which stormy waves of world
politics will he lead the Kingdom into?
Until recently, all issues related to
the succession were solved quite simply. The fact is Abdul Aziz ibn
Abdurrahman ibn Saud (Ibn Saud), founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
in 1932, left a testament to his sons, according to which the power
should be transferred from one child to another. Ibn Saud was an
incredibly loving Bedouin. He was married to 19 official wives, not
counting his so-called temporary, brief marriages. Every year for nearly
a decade, Ibn Saud went to a Saudi Arabian city for one day to attend a
local Muslim traditional holiday. There, he formally married the same
woman, spent the night with her, and in the morning got divorced and
returned to Riyadh. The following year, that woman would show him the
child that was born during that year, and the whole procedure was
repeated. However, neither the woman nor her children were considered
Ibn Saud’s legitimate family. His official wives gave birth to 21
daughters and 45 sons, or perhaps more, as the special hard-working
committee that was created to find the heirs of Ibn Saud is always
giving different figures. In other words, there are a great number of
contenders to the royal throne, but Ibn Saud, who died in 1953,
apparently did not anticipate that the issue of succession would be very
relevant after 60 years.
Up to a certain time when there were
plenty of direct heirs, the issue was solved rather simply and was
recorded in the relevant laws. The current state structure in Saudi
Arabia is determined by the Basic Law of the Kingdom entitled “The Basic Law of Governance of Saudi Arabia”, which was adopted in 1992. According to this law, Saudi Arabia is anabsolute monarchy, which is governed by the sons and grandsons of the first King, Ibn Saud. The law is based on Islamic law ,
and the power of the King is theoretically only limited by the Sharia
Law. The heir to the throne is appointed by the King after his selection
by the Allegiance Council
established in accordance with the law of 2006. In this case, the
succession to the throne passes from brother to brother (among the sons
of King Ibn Saud). If there are no more brothers, only then the eldest
of the next generation is considered to be the heir. Women are not
eligible to become ruling monarchs.
http://journal-neo.org/2016/07/27/saudi-arabia-problems-problems-again-and-more-problems/
