The sharif's lone political rival was the Ottoman vali (governor) of the region, who was responsible for ensuring Ottoman sovereignty over the region. A power struggle existed between the sharif and the vali; the authority to make decisions switched back and forth between the two over time. As a whole, the political climate left a large amount of influence in the hands of the sharif and in the early years of the twentieth century this was Sharif Husayn.[3]