Saudi Crown Prince says anti-corruption campaign was ‘shock therapy’ to kingdom

Riyad: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said that reforms initiated in the kingdom were part of the “shock” therapy needed to revamp cultural and political scenes.

In an interview with the Washington Post’s David Ignatius published, Prince Mohammed said the anti-corruption campaign which began in November was an example of this shock therapy.

In the wide-ranging late-night interview at his palace here, Saudi Arabia’s young Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman described the changes as a new wave of reforms, and were needed to modernize the kingdom’s cultural and political life.

“You have a body that has cancer everywhere, the cancer of corruption. You need to have chemo, the shock of chemo, or the cancer will eat the body.”

Earlier the same day, new royal decrees were issued shaking up the Saudi military and government bureaucracy and appointing a woman to a cabinet ministry, Tamadur Bint Yousuf Al Ramah as deputy minister for labor.

He recalled his own experience of personal encounters with corruption during his late teens. “The corrupted princes were a minority, but the bad actors got more attention. It harmed the energy of the royal family.” The kingdom couldn’t meet budget targets without halting corruption, he said.

All but 56 of those arrested have now been freed after paying restitution: “Most of them know they have made big mistakes, and they have settled,” the crown prince added.

He also discussed his campaigns against corruption and Muslim extremism, as well as his strategy for the region. The crown prince said he has public support, not just from restless younger Saudis but also from a chastened royal family.

Speaking on the government shake-up announced earlier this week, in which King Salman appointed a woman, Tamadur Bint Yousuf Al Ramah to a cabinet ministry, along with younger royals to key governorates and new military leaders, Prince Mohammed said the effort was to install “high energy” people who could achieve modernization targets.

“We want to work with believers,” he added.

Prince Mohammed said he had been planning the defense ministry changes for several years “to get better results for Saudi defense spending.”

For more than two hours, He also described ambitious plans to mobilize Yemeni tribes against the Houthi militia and their Iranian backers in Yemen.