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Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud speaks during the opening session of the Gulf Cooperation Council on May 14, 2014 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: AFP-Mandel Ngan)
Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud speaks during the opening session of the Gulf Cooperation Council on May 14, 2014 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: AFP-Mandel Ngan)
Since Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz was crowned king on August 2, 2005 as successor to his half brother Fahd bin Abdul Aziz - who died on July 31, 2005 - he designed a policy for himself aimed at changing the balance of power. He put new rules for the transfer of power stemming from a background that is clearly inconsistent with the direction of his primary competition, the Sudairi faction.
The king did not want someone from the Sudairi wing to be appointed, which would enable that person to extend his control to key areas within the state in the next phase.The prevailing tradition [for succession] since the days of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, required creating the position of second deputy or deputy crown prince. In 1941, the king issued a royal decree appointing his son Saud as crown prince and Faisal as deputy crown prince. This tradition was dominant in earlier times, and so Khalid bin Abdul Aziz was a second deputy or deputy crown prince for King Saud. But after Faisal's ascension to the throne and creating the cabinet system, the position of second deputy came to apply to the succession to the throne as well as the cabinet, since the unification of the position of the king and the prime minister during the reign of King Faisal in 1964. So King Fahd became the first second deputy for the prime minister.
The position of the second deputy remained vacant for four years under the reign of King Abdullah. The reason was clear. The king did not want someone from the Sudairi wing to be appointed, which would enable that person to extend his control to key areas within the state in the next phase. This in turn would pose a future threat to the king's wing of the royal family when he dies.
The label "Sudairi faction" is used for seven...