The Constitutional Guarantee in the Balance of the Federal Government’s Relationship with the Regions
Section One
Dr. Osama Al-Shabib
Introduction
One of the major pillars of federal systems is the balance of the central government’s relationship with the regions. This is how effective and focused efforts enable the preservation of parity of powers and the correct functioning of state entities. The drafters of federal constitutions are attempting to strike a balance in the distribution of powers between the two branches of government. And if no federal system succeeds without this distribution and balance between the center and the regions, it is not enough to specify it alone through constitutional wording; there must also be guarantees that prohibit either of them from exceeding the rights granted to the other, ensuring the continuance of the federal balance, and retaining the constitutional entities (regions and states provinces) their autonomy, and the care of their local interests. As a result, the process of relative independence of the regions and relationship balance does not happen on its own; it must be surrounded by guarantees and include numerous aspects and features that enable its implementation in real world.
It also requires that these assurances not be limited to the federal government; rather, the constitutional guarantees must be applied to provinces that infringe on competencies that fall outside their jurisdiction. Therefore, the availability of securities to sustain the concept of the distribution of constitutional competencies is meant to avoid a breach in the direction of the consolidation of power in the hands of the federation on the one hand or the regions on the other. These guarantees are provided differently by federal systems, but the most effective in maintaining federal balance can be crystallized by three basic guarantees: the constitutional guarantee, the judicial guarantee, and the political guarantee.
