President of the Arab Union

The President of the Union (Arabic: رئيس الاتحاد ra’īs al-ittiḥād) is the head of state of the Arab Union and its 20 constituent republics. The head of government, at the federal level, is the Prime Minister, while the head of government of each republic is known as the Premier. According to the Constitution of the Arab Union, the President is elected in a direct election to a seven-year term; there is no limit to the number of terms a president may serve consecutively. The President is responsible for confirming the Council of Ministers (the federal government's executive branch), whose members are nominated and led by the Prime Minister, who is himself appointed by the President on advice of the Arab Congress (the federal legislative branch).

According to the constitution, the President of the Arab Union serves ex officio as commander-in-chief of the Union Defence Forces (UDF), the National Guard, and each republic's national police service (ie. the Palestine National Police). These agencies, especially the police, routinely answer to the agency to which they are immediately subordinate (for example, National Police are subordinate to their republic's Ministry of Interior); during exceptional circumstances, however, such as wars or other major natural or manmade disasters, the President of the Arab Union may exercise his authority as commander-in-chief to directly control the activities of all federal, republic, and local security forces. Otherwise, law enforcement agencies report to the President only when requested to do so, otherwise answering regularly to their immediate superior (such as the Ministry of Interior).

The official residence and workplace of the President of the Arab Union is Abdeen Palace, located in Cairo. Bashar al-Assad became the third President of the Arab Union in July 2000, succeeding his late father, Hafez al-Assad; he has been re-elected twice since, in 2007 and 2014, with the next presidential election scheduled for April 2021.