Arab Congress


 * Not to be confused with the National Congress of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.

The Arab Congress (Arabic: المؤتمر العربي al-mu’tamr al-‘arabī) is the bicameral legislative assembly of the Union of Arab Republics (UAR, informally the Arab Union), the legislative branch of the federal government, consisting of two nominally equal chambers: the Council of Deputies and the Council of Republics. The two chambers of the Arab Congress together elect the Prime Minister of the Arab Union, who leads the Council of Ministers, the executive branch of the federal government; the two chambers also together elect the Presidium of the Arab Congress, a nine-member council which is primarily responsible for moderating joint sessions of the Arab Congress and exercising ultimate legislative authority between joint plenary sessions of congress.

Council of Deputies
The Council of Deputies functions as a traditional "lower chamber", in that its 488 seats each represent a single electoral district, each being roughly equal in population, whose constituents elect a single representative, their deputy (نائب nā’ib; pl. نواب nawāb). Deputies act as the direct representative of their electoral district in the federal government, and can be removed from office by their constituents.

Council of Republics
The Council of Republics is the de facto "upper chamber" of the Arab Congress: it has 40 elected members, two for each of the constituent republics (federated states) of the Arab Union. Sitting members are officially known as "counsellors" (مستشارين mustashārīn; sg. مستشار mustashār); they are elected directly by their constituents. Counsellors from the same republic are referred to respectively as senior and junior, depending on their term length; one half of counsellors are elected every four years.

Presidium of the Arab Congress
The Presidium of the Arab Congress is a nine-member council elected at a joint plenary session of the Arab Congress (a session in which all members of both chambers are simultaneously present), with its members drawn from the ranks of either chamber; upon being elected to the Presidium, the member's seat in the Council of Deputies or Council of Republics becomes vacant, meaning that Presidium members are elected by and come from the Arab Congress, but do not carry the burden and possible conflict of interest of serving in both the Presidium and one of the chambers of congress. The Presidium of the Arab Congress acts as the highest legislative authority between joint plenary sessions. If legislation introduced in and passed by one chamber of the Arab Congress is then passed by the counterpart chamber, the Presidium of the Arab Congress reviews the new legislation against the constitution, only officially ratifying the legislation if it does not contradict the constitution. If the Presidium suspects or believes the passed legislation contradicts the constitution, the legislation is sent to the Supreme Court of the Arab Union which makes the final decision.