SheikhMohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Arabic: محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, romanized: Muḥammad bin Rāšid Āl Maktūm; born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the vice president and prime minister.[1] Mohammed succeeded his brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum as UAE vice president and ruler of Dubai following the latter's death in 2006.[2]
Mohammed is the absolute ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the UAE,[9] a position appointed by the president.[10] The government is autocratic, as there are no democratic institutions, and internal dissent is prohibited.[11][12][13][14] It is characterized by scholars as authoritarian.[15][16]
On 5 March 2020, a British court ruled that on the balance of probabilities, Mohammed had abducted two of his daughters, Shamsa and Latifa, and had threatened his former wife, the Jordanian princess Haya bint Hussein.[17] Allegedly, Shamsa and Latifa were forcibly medicated while held in Dubai under Mohammed's orders since 2000 and 2018, respectively.[18] On 16 February 2021, BBC's Panorama broadcast a documentary featuring Latifa's video messages that she made secretly under enforced detention in Dubai on her father's orders.[19][20]
Mohammed is an equestrian and is the founder of the Maktoum family-owned Godolphin stable and the owner of Darley, a thoroughbred breeding operation, operational in six countries. In 2012, he rode the horse Madji Du Pont 160 km to take the FEI World Endurance Championship.[21]
^"Dubai Rulers". Government of Dubai. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
^Marozzi, Justin (2019). Islamic Empires: Fifteen Cities that Define a Civilization. Penguin UK. ISBN978-0-241-19905-3. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2021. There is no free speech in Dubai... criticism of the ruling family, or any other political activity, is absolutely prohibited... Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai