Republics of the Arab Union

The Union of Arab Republics (UAR), informally known as the Arab Union, is a federal republic in North Africa and Western Asia which consists of 20 constitutionally equal federated states known as Arab republics (Arabic: جمهوريات عربية jumhūriyāt ‘arabīyah; def. sg. الجمهورية العربية al-jumhūriyah al-‘arabīyah), informally republics. Each republic has its own elected unicameral legislature (such as Palestine's 233-seat Palestine Arab Congress); the party with the most seats following a republican legislative election nominates an individual (usually a party leader or deputy leader) as premier (head of government) of the republic, who according to custom is confirmed by the President of the Arab Union. While each republic has its own head of government, separate from the federal head of government (the Prime Minister of the Arab Union), the position of head of state is held exclusively by the President of the Arab Union, who, according to the constitution, is head of state of both the union as a whole and each republic individually.

The newly confirmed premier appoints a cabinet to serve as the republic's executive branch of government (the Council of Ministers of the Republic), which is responsible for the great majority of matters of administration, economics, and public security in its respective republic, with the federal government handling mostly foreign relations, national security and defence, and healthcare. The republics are equally represented in the Council of Republics, one of two equal chambers of the federal Arab Congress, and are represented in the Council of Deputies according to their population (meaning the more populous a republic, the more deputies it is eligible to elect to the Council of Deputies). The great majority of legislation begins in the Council of Deputies, and if passed, must then be passed by the Council of Republics in order to be signed into law; this is to ensure that a seemingly great proportion (possibly even a majority) of supporters of a particular bill are not concentrated in only a few republics.

For example, the Egyptian Arab Republic, with a population of over 100 million, represents over one-fifth the total population of the Arab Union; as such, over a fifth of deputies sitting in the Council of Deputies are representing Egyptian constituents. Imagine a particular bill is presented to the Council of Deputies, a bill which would greatly benefit dense urban populations and industrialised communities but at the expense of rural and more traditional communities. One could easily imagine the bill becoming popular amongst Egyptian as well as Syrian, Iraqi, Gulf, Jordanian, Lebanese, Moroccan and Peninsular deputies; if a majority of deputies from these seven republics voted in favour, the bill could easily pass. Thus is demonstrated the practicality of the Council of Republics: after passing in the Council of Deputies, the 20 republics' five senators each in the Council of Republics would deliberate on the bill's implications, with each republic having an equal amount of votes. Only if a majority of senators vote for the bill (meaning at least three out of five for seventeen republics, at least four out of five for sixteen republics, or at least five out of five for eleven republics; in each case all other republics having at least one senator vote in favour as well) does the bill pass, which must then be signed into law by the president.

In addition to the 20 union republics, there is Nasser City, the federal capital which is not part of any republic; all other lands controlled by the Arab Union form one of its 7 territories, which unlike republics (but like the capital) are under the direct jurisdiction of the federal government and possess only as much autonomy as granted by the Arab Congress via the process of devolution.

List

 * Algerian Arab Republic
 * Bahraini Arab Republic
 * Egyptian Arab Republic
 * Gulf Arab Republic
 * Iraqi Arab Republic
 * Jordanian Arab Republic
 * Kuwaiti Arab Republic
 * Lebanese Arab Republic
 * Libyan Arab Republic
 * Mauritanian Arab Republic
 * Moroccan Arab Republic
 * Omani Arab Republic
 * Palestinian Arab Republic
 * Peninsular Arab Republic
 * Qatari Arab Republic
 * Sudanese Arab Republic
 * Syrian Arab Republic
 * Tunisian Arab Republic
 * Western Saharan Arab Republic
 * Yemeni Arab Republic