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salma name son Mohammed bin Salman has been appointed Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince and next in line for the throne. Bin Salman is viewed as a keen reformer, set on building an economic future for the kingdom after oil.

Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman has replaced his cousin Mohammed bin Nayef as crown prince – next in line to the throne – in a royal decree issued via the Saudi kingdom’s state media agency SPA on Wednesday.

While bin Salman’s promotion and bin Nayef’s ouster were reportedly widely expected within royal circles, the timing is surprising. Saudi Arabia finds itself in a bitter diplomatic dispute with Qatar and Iran, and locked in a two-year-long air war in Yemen.

Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is King Salman’s nephew, was widely praised for his role as Saudi Arabia’s counter-terrorism chief and for suppressing an al-Qaida bombing campaign against the kingdom between 2003 and 2006. Nevertheless, he was relieved of all his roles.

Bin Salman, meanwhile, will maintain his position as defense minister, holding responsibility for one of the world’s biggest arms budgets as well as the kingdom’s military intervention in Yemen.

A public pledging of loyalty for him is scheduled to take place later on Wednesday.

New leader for a new generation

Mohammed bin Salman’s ascent to being one step away from the throne was seen as symbolic recognition on behalf of the king to Saudi Arabia’s youthful population, more than half of which is under 25 years old.

The newly appointed 31-year-old crown prince will be the first of a new generation of Saudi royals to take power. He is the great-grandchild of the kingdom’s founder, the late King Abdul-Aziz.

Bin Salman was one of the most ardent proponents for the kingdom’s Vision 2030 program, a wide-ranging plan to introduce social and economic reforms to the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy. As part of the plan, Saudi Arabia cut back of many state lavish subsidies and proposed the partial privatization of the kingdom’s state oil company, Saudi Aramco.

While the proposals to rid Saudi Arabia of its “addiction” to oil have prompted unease many senior officials, they have been widely welcomed by younger Saudis.

Bin Salman also chaired the country’s Council of Economic and Development Affairs, coordinating socio-economic policies in the kingdom such as education, housing, and women’s rights. However, it remains unclear where he stands on the Saudi kingdom’s harsh freedom of speech laws. He also heads the supreme board of Saudi Aramco.

However, his rise to power has been rapid since his father assumed the throne in January 2015. Many have scrutinized the king’s decision to brush aside many of his more well-known, and sometimes better qualified, cousins in favor of closer relatives.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has dismissed Prince Bandar bin Sultan from the National Security Council.

King Salman on Thursday issued a number of royal decrees that removed or changed a number of top Saudi officials. Report Presstv

The new king, who succeeded the late King Abdullah last week, also removed Intelligence Chief Prince Khaled bin Bandar from his post and appointed him as his advisor.

He also sacked two of the late king’s sons from big jobs.

King Salman replaced Riyadh Governor Turki bin Abdullah with Faisal bin Bandar, and reinstated Khaled al-Faisal as Mecca governor less than two years after he was replaced by Mishaal bin Abdullah.

The new king, however, kept in place Abdullah’s other son Miteb as the Minister of the National Guard.

King Salman also reshuffled a number of posts in the cabinet, while keeping unchanged the oil, foreign, finance, defense, interior, labor, transport and economy, and planning ministers.

The 79-year-old king also eliminated a dozen councils and specialized committees while creating two main bodies for security and economy affairs.

The former king died on January 23 at the age of 90 after weeks of being hospitalized with a lung infection. He had suffered frequent periods of ill health in recent years.

The new monarch, who has suffered at least one stroke that has left him with limited movement on his left arm and is believed to be suffering from Alzheimer’s, is taking over at a time when King Abdullah’s demise is expected to fuel a power struggle within the ruling family.

His succeeding to the throne also coincides with the kingdom’s grappling with dissent in the east and the region’s attempting to deal with the repercussions of the terrorism funded and the extremism exported by Riyadh.

Riyadh has also turned into a butt of criticism for sending shockwaves throughout the international economy by allegedly fixing oil prices.