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Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (CNN) The leader of the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday named his eldest son as crown prince of Abu Dhabi and named his likely successor as president of the Arab world’s second-largest economy.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, has named Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed the emirate’s crown prince, state-run WAM news agency reported.
The move comes 10 months after MBZ became president of the Persian Gulf state following the death of his brother Sheikh Khalifa. The oil-rich UAE is a member of the OPEC oil cartel and controls some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. The country is a federation of seven emirates, each with its own ruling family, which also includes regional business and tourism hub Dubai.
MBZ also named his brother Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed as UAE Vice President, who will join Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE (MBR ), 73, who is also his father-in-law. The post was previously held only by the ruler of Dubai.
Sheikh Mansour, 52, who has been the UAE’s deputy prime minister since 2009, this month became chairman of Mubadala, one of the UAE’s sovereign wealth funds, which manages assets worth $17 billion. Sheikh Mansour is also the owner of Premier League football club Manchester City.
The president’s two brothers, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed and Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, were named deputy rulers of Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Sheikh Tahnoun is the UAE’s national security adviser and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which has assets worth $790 billion, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.
Cinzia Bianco, a visiting scholar at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the appointment of a second vice president for the first time showed Abu Dhabi’s attempt to centralize power “in an inclusive way”. She said the appointment of Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed to fight alongside MBR, the ruler of Dubai, may have been intentional because he is the MBR’s son-in-law.
“The overall aim of all these appointments is to achieve centralization without unduly disrupting the unity and division within the different royal houses in the UAE,” she said.
The UAE president wants to bestow important positions in Abu Dhabi on his family because “leading in Abu Dhabi means leading in the whole country,” she said.
Bader Al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, said on Twitter that Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s sharing of the vice presidency would not necessarily diminish Dubai’s role, as MBR already serves as prime minister.
Nadeen Ebrahim contributed to this report.
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