President of the Arab Union

The President of the Arab Union (Arabic: رئيس الاتحاد ra’īs al-ittiḥād) is the head of state of the Arab Union and its 20 republics (federated states). The head of government, at the federal level, is the Prime Minister, while each republic has its own respective head of government, called 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 constitutional limit to the number of terms a president may serve consecutively. The President is responsible for appointing the Prime Minister on advice of the Arab Congress.

According to the constitution, the President of the Arab Union serves ex officio as commander-in-chief of the Union Defence Forces, the National Guard and the National Police of each republic. 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 war or 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 and republican 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 republican Ministries of Interior).

By tradition, the President of the Arab Union is styled Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (خادم الحرمين الشريفين khādim al-ḥarimayn ash-sharīfayn), as Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam, are located in the Arab Union.

The official residence and workplace of the President of the Arab Union is called the Garden Estate, located in the federal capital of Nasser City. 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 thrice since, in 2007, 2014 and 2021, with the next presidential election scheduled for April 2028.