Ministries of the Arab Union
The Ministries of the Arab Union (Arabic: وزاراwuzarāt; sg. وزارة wuzārah) are the first-level (cabinet-level) executive departments within the machinery of government of the Union of Arab Republics, each headed by a cabinet minister who is appointed by the head of government (cabinet leader). Each ministry oversees several directorates, the second-level executive departments, each of which functions as a government agency and/or oversees a handful of smaller agencies.
There are three categories of ministry, classified according to their place and role within the federal system of the government of the Arab Union:
- All-union ministries
- Union-republican ministries
- Republican ministries
Categories[edit | edit source]
All-union ministries[edit | edit source]
An all-union ministry is a ministry which is headed by a member of the Council of Ministers of the Arab Union, the cabinet of the federal government which is chaired by the Prime Minister. All-union ministries function as a single entity from the ministry down to the lowest agency level, administering an area of government common to the entire Union across all 20 republics (the federated states of the Arab Union). All administrative activities undertaken by the ministry and its entire subordinate hierarchy are performed on behalf of the federal government, thus administering areas which constitutionally are under the exclusive authority of the federal government.
One example of an all-union ministry is the Ministry of Defence, which controls the Union Defence Forces, the national military of the Arab Union. A second example is the Ministry of Health, which oversees the National Health Authority (NHA), the provider of a single, comprehensive system of universal healthcare across the entire Union.
Union-republican ministries[edit | edit source]
A union-republican ministry is a ministry which, at its top level, is controlled by a minister who, like an all-union minister, is a member of the federal Council of Ministers of the Arab Union. However, unlike an all-union ministry, the administrative hierarchy below this top level is divided into 20 virtually identical junior ministries, each of which handles most of the daily administrative affairs of one of the 20 republics, each being led by a junior minister who is a member of their republic's governorate (the executive branch/cabinet of an individual republic). The senior ministry directly oversees only such affairs which affect two or more republics simultaneously. Junior ministers are accountable to both the senior minister and their governor (the head of government of a republic), the latter of whom appoints them.
One example of a union-reoublican ministry is the Ministry of Interior, which oversees public security, mainly via the National Police: The federal command of the National Police is directly accountable to the senior Minister of Interior, while each of the 20 republican commands of the National Police, which handle the vast majority of law enforcement, is directly accountable to the junior Minister of Interior of its particular republic. Another example is the Ministry of Labour.
As such, a union-republican ministry is essentially a hybrid between the all-union ministry and the republican ministry discussed next.
Republican ministries[edit | edit source]
A republican ministry is a ministry which, at its top level, is accountable only to the governorate (cabinet) of the republic in which it operates, with not higher federal control. The republican ministry in most cases is identically named and thus functions very similarly as its counterparts across republics, but need not be, and in all cases is a completely separate entity from its cousins, from top to bottom.
Junior ministers of union-republican junior ministries and ministers of republican ministries are of equal rank within the republican cabinets (governorates).
One example of a republican ministry is the Ministry of Infrastructure, which is in fact twenty identically named yet entirely separate ministries each controlled by a particular republican governorate. A unique example is the Ministry of Fisheries of the Egyptian Arab Republic, which has no counterpart in any other republic (fisheries in most other republics being the responsibility of their own Ministry of Agriculture).