The Saudi Arabian Anti-Corruption Purge; A Witch Hunt or a Sincere Purge?
The oil rich Saudi Arabia started an anti-corruption purge on November 4th and that purge as led to the dismissal of top government officials and detained no fewer than 11 princes with notable billionaire businessman, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, leading the pack.
The questions many are asking is, with these arrest and detainment of these government Officials and princes, is the Crown Prince of Saudi signalling an era of dictatorship? Will this not spell doom for the Kingdom especially now that the Houthi Rebels are offering political asylum to these princes?
This is not the first time the Crown prince is in the headlines with his hard stance on the affairs of the oil rich Kingdom. When he was appointed crown prince in June 2017, he announced his plan to transform the Saudi economy, under a project tagged "Vision 2030."
Allegations are rift that these arrests are in place because these princes and government officials refused to pay for the cough out money for the bolstering of the economy.
While a statement from King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stated that these purges are due to the "exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to illicitly accrue money."
Is this a case of pay up or get locked up?
In locking up these wealthy men, is the 32-year-old bin Salman showing that he is really fighting corruption or that he is willing to throw the entire region into jeopardy just to wear the royal gown.?
Image Source, Aljazeera.com.
Additional reading. Saudi Arabia princes detained, ministers dismissed.
Saudi anti-corruption purge: All the latest updates.
we have to wait and see
Well, fingers laced.
wow this is a serious and very enlightening post.... seems almost like Nigeria's case of witch hunt with the difference being that the prince might be asking for money to boost the economy
Yes it is serious, imagine detaining Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and freezing his assets. That dude is the richest Arab and yet he is cornered by the Crown prince. Wish Nigeria can be bold enough to stand against these looters for real.