Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi made 53 on-air interventions on the emirate’s Direct Line programme between 2023 and 2025, listening to residents’ concerns and following up on their requests, according to figures shared by Sharjah News.
Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, joined the programme 16 times in 2023, 21 times in 2024 and 16 times in 2025.
The show gives citizens and residents a chance to raise issues directly, while officials are brought in to provide answers and explanations. The Ruler also uses his appearances to discuss plans and projects affecting the public, the post said.
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His close attention to the broadcast is longstanding. Sharjah News recalled him saying: “I have missed my nap because of Direct Line, and I follow it wherever I am, even when I am on a plane.”
A direct channel for residents
Launched in 2006, Direct Line was set up to receive suggestions and complaints from citizens and residents and seek responses from government officials.
The Ruler once stepped in after a mother said she could not afford schooling and treatment for her son, who has a disability also a 2021 case in which he intervened after a caller faced the auction of his home over an unpaid housing loan.
Ahmed Sultan, one of the programme’s presenters, told Khaleej Times at the time that the Ruler had instructed the team to prioritise callers’ concerns. “He has told us to not neglect it when a citizen or expatriate contacts us,” Sultan said.
The programme continues to bring individual cases before decision-makers. In February 2026, the Ruler directed the Amiri Diwan to cover Dh300,000 in educational expenses for a caller’s daughter whose scholarship had been suspended for the academic year.
Direct Line airs from Monday to Thursday at 1.30pm. Sharjah News named Mohammed Hassan Khalaf, Ahmed Sultan, Mohammed Majid Al Suwaidi and Mohammed Al Raisi as its four presenters.
The figures put a number on what has made the programme a regular part of life for many residents, the opportunity to have a concern heard on air and, in some cases, receive a response from the Ruler himself.
Source: Khaleej Times