Governorate (Arab Union)

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In the Arab Union, a governorate (Arabic: محافظة muḥāfaẓah; plural محافظات muḥāfaẓāt) is the supreme executive organ of any one of the 20 republics, the federated states which together constitute the Union. Governorates represent the first tier of government after the Government of the Arab Union (the federal government) and in fact carry out (either directly or as federal proxy) a majority of high-level administrative responsibilities in the domestic sphere. Governorates oversee internal affairs affecting their respective republic, with the federal government in charge of domestic affairs with a multi-republican and/or nation-wide scope as well as all foreign affairs. The governorate is led by a governor, who is elected by the respective republic's legislative body (known as a republican congress). Governors are the republican-level equivalent to the Prime Minister of the Arab Union, with governorates thus being equivalent to the federal Council of Ministers (as executive organs).