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Russia and Brunei Will Exchange Know-How
// …how to build the oil monarchy
Yesterday, Sultan Muda Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzadin Waddaulah (in short - Hassanal Bolkiah) of Brunei arrived in Moscow on an official visit. He is interested in Russian technologies of oil exploration and drilling as well as the newest weapons for Brunei Special Forces. The Kremlin might find it useful to find out more about the sultan’s absolute power and authority that he holds over every one of his subjects.
The visit of Hassanal Bolkiah in Moscow has coincided with a new stage of Brunei’s political life. At the end of May, the sultan made radical changes in the country’s government. He kept for himself the Prime Minister’s position as well as the ministry of defense and finance. The sultan’s brother Prince Mohamed Bolkiah retained the chair of the foreign minister. And to reinforce the monarchy, Brunei’s ruler appointed his son Prince Haji Al Muhtadee Billah to the position of senior minister where it would be the easiest for him to receive his father’s throne. Hassanal Bolkiah inherited his throne in 1967 when he was 21 years old. Five years before that, his father Sultan Omar dispersed the parliament after the victory of the left opposition, which demanded democracy and ending the monarchy. Sultan Omar crushed the military uprising that happened in the same moment and established an absolute monarchy in Brunei.
In 1984, Hassanal Bolkiah prohibited parliamentary elections and in 1991 he introduced a new conservative ideology that presented the monarchy as the main and only defender of the Islamic faith in Brunei. The sultan’s family established control over almost all print media. The free media censor themselves. Self censorship on political and religious subjects is supported by Brunei’s law that promises a three-year prison term for the publication of “false news.”
However the sultan’s subjects are not complaining—Brunei’s living standards are among the highest in the world. Income from the oil and natural gas turned Hassanal Bolkiah into the owner of a palace with 1,700 rooms. He also owns the largest and most complete collection of cars in the world. He lost the title of the richest man in the world in 1998 because of the free spending of his brother Jefri who went into a spending spree and blew out more than 3 billion British pounds sterling from the state coffers. Also, the sultan lost some money during the Asian financial crisis. Although even now the simple people of Brunei are not starving—even after the loss of some benefits, they still receive significant subsidies from the state and don’t pay taxes. However, since recently Brunei tries to cut its dependence from oil and gas export. For that matter, the country is trying to diversify its economy, placing the main bet on the development of ecological tourism and turning Brunei into a world financial center.
Despite the idea of diversification, Hassanal Bolkiah is primarily researching in Russia its energy sector. Today in the Kremlin he will discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin the possibility of the Brunei investment in Russian oil/natural gas sector and Russian projects in third countries. Brunei shows particular interest in Russian technologies and specialists in oil exploration and drilling. Also, it is expected that during this visit there will be several agreements signed which will provide modern Russian weapons and training to the Brunei special forces. So far, all the weapons to Brunei come mainly from Great Britain. But Russian arms exporters are hoping to move the Brits because of the more favorable pricing and a larger variety of weapons supplies. It is known that the sultan has a special passion anti-aircraft missile complexes and fast patrol cutters. Most likely he will see them up close in Russia. The Brunei sultan is preoccupied with reinforcing his defense due to his uneasy relationship with his regional neighbors. The arguments were created because of rights to explore the richest oil and gas depository on the ocean bottom and shelf.
Brunei is attractive for Moscow not only as a potential consumer of Russian defense and oil industry. The sultan’s regime has serious influence in the Muslim world. For that matter Putin will try to catch the chance and receive the support of Hassanal Bolkiah in the Russian drive to get the status of observer in Islamic Conference Organization. Moscow also hopes that Brunei’s sultan will be able to explain to the other Islamic leaders the Russian point of view of events in the Northern Caucuses, including Chechnya.
The heightened interest in Brunei is connected with the period of transfer from monarchy to controlled democracy. In September of last year, the sultan agreed to allow parliamentary elections, although he didn’t say when they will be. During the last reshuffling of the cabinet of the ministers, he removed Abdullah Aziz, minister of education, from the position he was holding for 20 years. He was considered one of the most conservative members of the cabinet. It was Abdullah Aziz who established the foundation for religious education in schools, toughened several Islamic rules, and also made a decree requiring all children to wear head coverings. Now it is possible that several of these rules will be softened. The proof for this possibility is in the fact that for the first time in the history of the sultanate a cabinet minister post was given to a non-Muslim. Lim Jock Seng, an ethnical Chinese, received the position of second minister of foreign affairs, which is higher in rank than a deputy foreign minister.
Andrei Ivanov
All the Article in Russian as of June 07, 2005
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