Dubai: Arab Spring reflects the voice of people who have waited for a long time and are asking for more opportunities to work, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, told CNN International in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
Speaking of the Arab Spring and its fallout in the region, Shaikh Mohammad told CNN's Erin Burnett: "In 2004, I said, 'Please change or you will be changed…' The Arab Spring is the people who waited for a long time and some governments are serving themselves, are not really serving the people. And their people want to work."
On the situation in Egypt and the prospect of Muslim Brotherhood being elected to power following the recent elections, Shaikh Mohammad said: "Egypt has a very strong army watching what's happening and giving the lead for this party."
On Syria, he said the situation is more complicated than Egypt or Libya because "they have Iraq behind them, they have Lebanon, they have all that. So it is the same as everywhere else. The people want jobs, they want opportunities. And they [are] asking for it. Unless Bashar [Al Assad] changes and starts making things good for the people, or they will carry on like that," Shaikh Mohammad said.
Asked whether more governments will fall in the Arab Spring, Shaikh Mohammad said: "I think this period of time, you know, every hundred years this might happen again… You have to be careful. You don't know what happening, you know, here or there. But I think the Gulf states [are] safe for the time being."
Speaking about the aspirations of UAE citizens and the development of the country, Shaikh Mohammad said: "We must serve our people. We must get the education, the universities, the hospitals, housing. And no tax here, and the government has the wealth to spend on their people… No tax and the government is working. Like today in the cabinet we made the programme. We have our vision and we [are] going through it. And we are achieving that vision. The dream, we are getting there. Here it's different. Here, everybody can come to the Ruler and say, "well, I didn't get that or that. Or this department or this ministry didn't give me my rights… And he will complain about one ministry, so I'll get hold of the minister and say, 'Why didn't you do your job?' So transparency here is more."
On Dubai and the UAE coping with the impact of the global financial crisis, Shaikh Mohammad said: "Even the American crisis, all the European crises [are] affecting the market. But we are here better than anywhere else. We get out of the crisis and now we [are] back building again," Shaikh Mohammad told CNN's Erin Burnett in the wide-ranging interview.
"But just to remind you, when the crisis [happened], the total spending, we completed, the metro was completed, the Meydan [race track] was completed, all was in the crisis. So all the big projects, we did not stop. We only stopped some projects [that were] on paper for a year or two," he said.
"I don't call it crisis, it's a challenge, you know, when everybody – all [are] good leaders when things are all right. But you take a leader, a good leader to come, when it's crisis like that," Shaikh Mohammad added.
On forging ahead with plans for the future, Shaikh Mohammad said: "Don't stop when somebody doubt you. Once you make up your mind, then go full speed. And that's what we think and that's what we believe and that's what [is] going to happen… I'm not looking for the last spring, I'm looking for the next spring."
