Council of Ministers (republican)

In the Arab Union, a federation of 20 republics, the Council of Ministers is the name of the top executive body of the federal government, led by the Prime Minister of the Arab Union as his cabinet. Similarly, each of the Arab Union's 20 republics has its own "republican government", the executive branch of which is also known as the Council of Ministers (of the _____ Arab Republic) (Arabic: مجلس وزراء الجمهورية العربية الـــية majlis wuzrā’ al-jumhūriyah al-‘arabīyah al-_____īyah; the _____ represents the particular republic: for example, the government of the Syrian Arab Republic is called the "Council of Ministers of the Syrian Arab Republic", مجلس وزراء الجمهورية العربية السورية al-jumhūriyah al-‘arabīyah as-sūrīyah), and are collectively referred to as "republican councils of ministers" (مجالس الوزراء الجمهورية majālis al-wuzrā’ al-jamhūrīyah; sg. مجلس الوزراء الجمهوري majlis al-wuzrā’ al-jamhūrī), or informally as "republican governments" (حكومات جمهورية ḥukūmāt jamhūrīyah; sg. حكومة جمهورية ḥukūmah jamhūrīyah) when the context makes clear a reference to the executive branch.

Each republican council of ministers acts as the cabinet of a premier (the head of government of a particular republic), who like the Prime Minister of the Arab Union is elected by the respective republic's republican congress, the legislative branch of a republican government. The ministers who each oversee one of the multiple ministries of a republican government are nominated by the Premier, to whom they answer, and technically confirmed by the President of the Arab Union; however, it is remarkably rare for the President to refuse to confirm a premier's cabinet minister, and typically confirmation is actually carried out by the Vice President on the President's behalf. However, while the most common method by which a premier and/or cabinet are dismissed is via a vote of no confidence in the republican congress, the President of the Arab Union also has this power via executive order. This parallels the federal system, whereby the Prime Minister and/or cabinet (the federal Council of Ministers) can be dismissed either via a vote of no confidence in the federal Arab Congress or via presidential executive order.

Structure
Below is a list of the typical ministries of a premier's cabinet. As the division of power between the federal and republican level is precisely detailed by the constitution, republican ministries are have different functions and roles to federal ministries, with virtually no overlap between federal and republican areas of government jurisdiction. By contrast, the Council of Ministers of each republic is virtually identical in structure, with more or less the same counterpart ministries under its authority as in other republics. Republican governments are nonetheless permitted to form ministries which do not exist in other republics, but this is relatively rare, and all republican governments have at least the following fourteen ministries:


 * 1) Ministry of Interior (primarily oversees republic's national police and other domestic security forces);
 * 2) Ministry of Justice (responsible for the administration of justice in the republic);
 * 3) Ministry of Municipalities (responsible for liaising with local governments);
 * 4) Ministry of Economic Development (plans for, coordinates and promotes the domestic economy, both state-owned, cooperative and private);
 * 5) Ministry of Sanitation (responsible for safe water supply, sewerage, sewage treatment, waste disposal and recycling)
 * 6) Ministry of Natural Resources (responsible for managing domestic natural resources)
 * 7) Ministry of Environment Protection (responsible for protecting the natural environment, including ensuring industrial compliance with environmental regulations)
 * 8) Ministry of Family Development (protects women and children by investigating incidents of abuse, neglect and/or unsafe living conditions, providing safe accommodation for children and (if applicable) mothers to escape unsafe and abusive domestic situations, and supporting victims in their transition to safe permanent housing and in dealing with trauma);
 * 9) Ministry of Food and Nutrition (responsible for supervising all aspects of the food industry, ensuring all operations meet food-safe and nutritional standards);
 * 10) Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (ensures access to housing for all citizens by regulating the housing market, funding social housing projects, and supporting urban communities in the improvement of livability);
 * 11) Ministry of Infrastructure (responsible for the planning, construction and maintenance of all domestic transportation and communications infrastructure);
 * 12) Ministry of Tourism (promotes tourism in the republic from abroad and from other parts of the Arab Union, and oversees and supports the tourism industry);
 * 13) Ministry of Agriculture (supervises the agricultural industry, ensuring all stages of the farming process meet national regulations, and supports the industry via subsidies);
 * 14) Ministry of Minority Groups (responsible for ensuring equality for minority linguistic and ethnic groups in living standards, access to services such as healthcare and education, and treatment under the law, financing institutions which serve minority communities such as minority language schools).