Politically incorrect tweets embarrass new Saudi housing minister
Politically incorrect tweets embarrass new Saudi housing minister
Newly appointed Saudi housing minister Majid al-Hugail's internet past of sexist, sectarian and anti-Egyptian coup comments have been the recent focus of social media users.
3 min read
15 Jul, 2015
Hogail was named the third housing minister in less than four months [Twitter]
In Twitter obsessed Saudi Arabia the newly appointed housing minister’s old tweets have stirred up controversy with comments that social media users have deemed out of line with Saudi official policy as well as sexist and anti-Shia.
Majid al-Hugail was quick to delete his account and create a new one after Saudi Twitter users began digging through his embarrassing internet history, he then re-activated his old account but got rid of many the off colour tweets.
Hugail was named the third housing minister in less than four months by King Salman on Monday in the latest of a series of royal reshuffles, which also saw the appointment of a new head of the royal court and a new governor in the Northern Frontier Province.
Following the military coup in Egypt, Hugail tweeted “This is a military coup that truly proves the fact that Arab countries do not deserve democracy.”
He also slammed Saudi-owned TV station al-Arabiya’ news coverage of coup, saying, “I am really shocked with al-Arabiya’s biased coverage of the events in Egypt and what its newscasters said after the army statement, it is as if we’re watching the opposition [against Morsi] on an Egyptian channel.”
The man in charge of housing in Saudi Arabia also tweeted, “The ministry of labour lets girls work in gold and jewelry shops, so anyone who wants to rob a gold shop doesn’t need to bring a gun with them, they just need a cockroach.”
In another tone-deaf tweet he said, “His wife fearfully told him, ‘I forgot to put salt in the soup’. He noticed she was worried and whispered to her, ‘Don’t worry you’re the salt of my life’ and grabbed her head and shoved it in the soup.”
In one tweet Hugail posted the image allegedly depicting a Shia imam leading prayers in what looks like a lowered section of the mosque with the caption, “Is this Shia imam praying or is he changing [a car’s] oil?”
The new housing minister also spoke about the housing crisis in the Kingdom, saying, “What we need more than precise figures, statistics and effective policies to solve the housing crisis is to find out who actually owns the land and people’s personal incomes.”
Hugail was previously the managing director of the Rafal Real Estate Development Co, a private firm owned by Saudi family interests.
He will lead efforts to ease a severe shortage of affordable housing for millions of Saudis. The government has pledged tens of billions of dollars towards the problem but red tape and difficulties obtaining land have slowed disbursement of the aid and actual construction of homes.
Majid al-Hugail was quick to delete his account and create a new one after Saudi Twitter users began digging through his embarrassing internet history, he then re-activated his old account but got rid of many the off colour tweets.
Hugail was named the third housing minister in less than four months by King Salman on Monday in the latest of a series of royal reshuffles, which also saw the appointment of a new head of the royal court and a new governor in the Northern Frontier Province.
Following the military coup in Egypt, Hugail tweeted “This is a military coup that truly proves the fact that Arab countries do not deserve democracy.”
He also slammed Saudi-owned TV station al-Arabiya’ news coverage of coup, saying, “I am really shocked with al-Arabiya’s biased coverage of the events in Egypt and what its newscasters said after the army statement, it is as if we’re watching the opposition [against Morsi] on an Egyptian channel.”
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This is a military coup that truly proves the fact that Arab countries do not deserve democracy - Majid al-Hugail |
In another tone-deaf tweet he said, “His wife fearfully told him, ‘I forgot to put salt in the soup’. He noticed she was worried and whispered to her, ‘Don’t worry you’re the salt of my life’ and grabbed her head and shoved it in the soup.”
In one tweet Hugail posted the image allegedly depicting a Shia imam leading prayers in what looks like a lowered section of the mosque with the caption, “Is this Shia imam praying or is he changing [a car’s] oil?”
The new housing minister also spoke about the housing crisis in the Kingdom, saying, “What we need more than precise figures, statistics and effective policies to solve the housing crisis is to find out who actually owns the land and people’s personal incomes.”
Hugail was previously the managing director of the Rafal Real Estate Development Co, a private firm owned by Saudi family interests.
He will lead efforts to ease a severe shortage of affordable housing for millions of Saudis. The government has pledged tens of billions of dollars towards the problem but red tape and difficulties obtaining land have slowed disbursement of the aid and actual construction of homes.
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