Features of the new authoritarian Saudi state: Great Saudi Arabia
Saudi opposition circles highlight the characteristics of the new authoritarian Saudi state in promoting slogans such as Great Saudi Arabia to distinguish the current era from its predecessors.
Voice of the People newspaper of the opposition National Assembly Party reported that every tyrant throughout history tries to appear differently, in a more innovative way than their predecessors.
That is why it is impossible to find a tyrant who has a program that distinguishes him from others. For example, the title of Gaddafi’s state was The Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
In the local situation in the Arabian Peninsula – Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to follow this approach.
Tyrants love slogans, exaggerations, and titles, in addition to photographs, drawings, and poems that glorify their destiny and their greatness, and this method is not hidden from any follower of Saudi domestic affairs. But there are intrinsic features to this new authoritarianism.
Youth State: The Saudi authoritarian regime during the era of Mohammed bin Salman is trying to appear young and more vibrant. All ministers and advisors are trying to appear in this image in their clothes and the way they talk to the public.
There was a cultural tradition that the official appeared formally and spoke within certain limits in the past. During the era of Muhammad bin Salman, this image was broken.
The inspiring leader: This is how all ministers, advisors, and those concerned with the government’s work describe the role of Mohammed bin Salman in some projects, linking him to every achievement, trying to describe him as the energy from which they supply their ideas and actions.
In a recent interview with Al-Tuwaijri, he said, “The time of travel, the plane turns into tables for meetings with His Highness, the Crown Prince,” and “in conferences in leisure time, the Crown Prince holds continuous meetings.” This type of description is symbolic phrases describing MBS as an inspiring leader.
Flattery and hypocrisy: The most crucial feature of the current Saudi regime, which MBS feeds on, is the endless hypocrisy. Everyone should praise this historical and inspiring leader of the peoples of the earth.
Large projects and big numbers: One of the most important features of the new authoritarianism is that it presents projects of “bigger, greater, faster, longer, deeper, and harsh on them,” meaning that no project can be presented without having this feature of this grand exaggeration.
Repression: It is an apparent authority behaviour, as it oppresses and oppresses everyone inside and outside. The repression reached the point of attempting to impose mechanisms of early control over society, such as hacking mobile devices and tracking citizens through the programs Tawakkalna and Absher.
Delusion: One of the characteristics of the new authoritarianism is the denial of reality, such as the patient when the doctor tells him that he suffers from a severe illness, the patient denies and goes to another doctor, for instance.
