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 legislature of the Union of Arab Republics, 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.

Council of Deputies
The Council of Deputies functions as a traditional "lower chamber", in that its 445 seats each represent a single electoral district, each being roughly equal in population, whose constituents elect a single representative, their deputy (نائب nā’ib). 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 "upper chamber" of the Arab Congress, and is often colloquially referred to as the Senate (مجلس الشيوخ majlis ash-shuyūkh, lit. “Council of Elders"). The 63 elected members of the Council of Republics are referred to in English as senators, literally "elders" in Arabic (شيوخ shuyūkh; sing. شيخ shaykh). Each member republic is represented by three senators, and the federal capital of Nasser City (which is not part of any republic) is also represented by three senators. Council of Republics members (senators) are elected directly by their constituents; as each voter may nominate up to 3 individual candidates for their constituency, it is not uncommon to see senators of the same republic from more than one political party.

Presidium of the Arab Congress
The Presidium of the Arab Congress is elected at a joint plenary session of the Arab Congress (a session in which all members of both chambers are simultaneously present), and 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 and ratifies the legislation if it does not contradict the Constitution of the Arab Union. If the Presidium suspects the legislation contradicts the constitution, the proposed legislation is sent to the Supreme Court of the Arab Union which makes the final decision.