“Old new government” formed in Syria’s Damascus
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree to form the first government after assuming the presidency for the fourth time in a row, and taking the constitutional oath on July 11.
Decree No. 208 of 2021 provided for the formation of the new Syrian ministry, headed by Engineer Hussein Arnous as Prime Minister.
According to leaks obtained by North Press earlier, the new government lineup kept most of its ministers, while the Ministries of Information, Internal Trade, Consumer Protection, and Social Affairs and Labor changed.
The decree named General Ali Abdullah Ayoub as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Muhammad Abdul Satar al-Sayed as Minister of Endowments, and Mansour Azam as Minister of Presidential Affairs.
Minister of Local Administration and Environment Hussein Makhlouf also maintained his position.
Salam Safaf continued as Minister of Administrative Development, and Muhammad Samer al-Khalil as Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade.
Major General Muhammad Khaled al-Rahmoun continued as Minister of Interior, Muhammad Rami Martini as Minister of Tourism, and Bassam Ibrahim as Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
The decree also named Suhail Abdullatif as Minister of Public Works and Housing, Iyad al-Khatib as Minister of Communications and Technology, Lubana Mushawah as Minister of Culture, Daram Tabba’a as Minister of Education, and Ahmed el-Sayed as Minister of Justice.
Tammam Raad was also named Minister of Water Resources, Kinan Yaghi as Minister of Finance, Zuhair Khuzaym as Minister of Transport, Bassam Tohme as Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Hassan Ghobash as Minister of Health, Ziad Sabbagh as Minister of Industry, Muhammad Hassan Qatna as Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, and Ghassan al-Zaml as Minister of Electricity.
Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad maintained his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, while Amr Salem entered as the new Minister of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection, who was a former Minister of Communications.
But Salem’s interests and his Facebook posts, through which he deals with the living situation and his talk about plans and studies on many living issues, brought him back to the ministry.
The dismissal of Minister of Information Imad Sarah came as a shock, and observers believe it to be a message to Bashar Assad’s advisor Luna al-Shibl, especially after Sarah’s last interview on a Syrian TV channel which provoked violent reactions among Syrians.
Boutros al-Hallaq was appointed Minister of Information to replace Sarah, and he is the dean of the Faculty of Information at Damascus University.
The few changes included the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, which was taken over by Muhammad Seif al-Din instead of Salwa Abdullah.
The presidential candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, was rewarded with the position of Minister of State, while Mahmoud Marei didn’t have any position in the new formed government.
Muhammad Fayez al-Barsha, Diala Barakat, and Abdullah Abdullah were appointed as Ministers of State.