National Political Service

The National Political Service (NPS; Arabic: الجهاز السياسي الوطني al-jihāz as-siyāsī al-waṭanī) is the national civil service commission of the Arab Union. It is responsible for training and certifying members of the civil service, the employees of all five levels of government (municipal, district, governorate, republican and federal). While all civil servants certified by the National Political Service work in the executive branch of government, the NPS itself is commissioned by and responsible to the legislative branch, namely the Arab Congress, both chambers of which elect the Secretariat (leadership) of the National Political Service at a joint plenary session. The service is funded by federal taxes.

All employees and management personnel of the numerous executive agencies of the different levels of government are employed by the NPS, with two exceptions: enlisted and civilian members of the armed forces, and police officers and personnel of other law enforcement agencies. A similar distinction is to be made with employees of state-owned corporations, which are controlled by but do not constitute part of the government. In 2018, the National Political Service employed approximately 1.41 million people, making it one of the largest employers in the union.