Syria’s President Has Named A New And Diverse Transitional Government Including Minorities And A Woman
“Together as a people and a government we will build a strong country,” Ahmed al-Sharaa said, to “work through our hardships and create a Syria we deserve.”
Syria’s new president Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed a new and diverse transitional government made of 23 ministers to run the country over the next five years.
The cabinet, which was announced on Saturday, March 29, included members from all of the country’s main minority communities — the Kurds, Druze, Christians and Alawites — as well as a woman.
Seven of the ministers were affiliated with the provincial government that Sharaa once led in the rebel-held city of Idlib.
Nine are independents, including technocrats and former activists.
Yarub Badr, an Alawite will be the transport minister; Amgad Badr, who belongs to the Druze community, will lead the agriculture ministry; and Mohammed Terko, a Syrian Kurd, was named as the minister of education.
Hind Kabawat, a Christian woman activist and longtime opponent of Bashir al-Assad, was named as the minister of social affairs and labor.
Sharaa also kept members of the previous caretaker cabinet that is being replaced, including the defense and foreign ministers.
Sharaa said he had also established a ministry for emergency situations and disasters, with the leaders of the White Helmets — the Syrian rescuers who worked in rebel-held areas — being appointed as the head of the ministry.
The government will not have a prime minister, as Sharaa is expected to lead the executive branch based on the temporary constitution he had signed on March 13.
“The formation of a new government today is a declaration of our joint will to build a new state,” Sharaa said in a speech after forming the government.
“Together as a people and a government we will build a strong country,” he said, to “work through our hardships and create a Syria we deserve.”
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