Syria sets first cabinet reshuffle since Assad ouster

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a series of government changes in late-night presidential decrees published ⁠by state news agency SANA.

Sharaa appointed ⁠Khaled Zaarour as information minister, replacing ‌Hamza Mustafa, ​who was moved to the foreign ministry. As agriculture minister, he named Bassel Sweidan, who also heads a committee tasked ​with reaching ⁠settlement agreements with business tycoons linked to the Assad-era elite.

Sharaa replaced governors in the provinces of Homs, al Quneitra ⁠and ‌Deir Ezzor, the eastern province where most of Syria’s oil fields ‌are located.

The reshuffle is the first ⁠since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad and comes ‌around a year and ‌a half into the five-year transitional period ‌set out in Syria’s constitutional declaration.

No ‌official reason was given for the changes, but protests and social media campaigns have ⁠emerged in ⁠recent months over worsening economic conditions and what critics describe as poor government performance.

Sharaa also appointed a new secretary-general for the presidency, a post previously held by one of his ​brothers, a move that had drawn criticism ​from opponents ​who accused the administration of favouring nepotism over merit.