Since catapulting to power with the support of his father, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pushed forth changes that could usher in a new era for the kingdom and sway it away from decades of ultraconservative dogma and restrictions.
He has introduced musical concerts and movies again and is seen as the force behind the king’s decision to grant women the right to drive as of next year.
Vision 2030
In his sweeping “Vision 2030” plan to wean Saudi Arabia off of its near total dependence on petrodollars, Prince Mohammed laid out a vision for “a tolerant country with Islam as its Constitution and moderation as its method”.
Buzz words like “reform,” “transparency” and “accountability” all used by the prince in his promotion of Vision 2030 do not, however, mean that Saudi Arabia is moving toward greater liberalism, democracy, pluralism or freedom of speech. The government does not grant licences to non-Muslim houses of worship, and limits those of its Shia Muslim citizens. The prince has also made no mention of human rights concerns. If anything, dozens of the prince’s perceived critics have been detained.
Some of those arrested were seen as critics of his foreign policies, which include severing ties with Qatar, increasing tensions with Iran and overseeing air strikes in Yemen.
Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed faces a Saudi public that remains religiously conservative. That means he still needs public support from the state’s top clerics in order to position his reforms as Islamic and religiously permissible.
