A new 23-member cabinet has been formed four months after the ouster of former President Bashar Assad
Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has announced the formation of a new 23-member transitional government in a bid to unify the war-torn country following the ouster of former President Bashar Assad. The cabinet includes representatives from various ethnic and religious backgrounds.
In a speech on Saturday, al-Sharaa, the leader of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS), which played the key role in Assad’s downfall, described the new government as one of “change and construction” that bears “the people’s aspirations and hopes for a bright and sustainable future.”
“We are certain that hard work, dedication, and cooperation among all citizens will be the key to achieving these goals,” he added.
The new cabinet features notable appointments such as Hind Kabawat, the only woman in the government and a Christian advocate for interfaith tolerance and female empowerment, who will serve as minister of social affairs and labor. It also includes Yarub Badr, an Alawite who will lead the Transportation Ministry, and Amgad Badr, a member of the Druze community, who will head the Agriculture Ministry.
The Alawites and Druze are minority religious groups that are offshoots of Islam, making up 12% and 3% of Syria’s population, respectively. Alawites were generally in favor of Assad’s rule, while the Druze have tended to be neutral throughout the internal strife in the country.
Raed al-Saleh, formerly associated with the White Helmets – an NGO accused of staging multiple false flag chemical weapons attacks – has been appointed as the head of the newly established Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management. Al-Sharaa also announced the creation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Murhaf Abu Qasra and Asaad al-Shaibani, already serving as ministers of defense and foreign affairs, will retain their positions.
The new government will not have a prime minister, nor include members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or the autonomous civil administration in northeastern Syria.
The formation of the transitional government comes after the collapse of the Assad government in December amid a surprise offensive by opposition forces spearheaded by the HTS. The former Syrian leader fled to Russia.
In the aftermath of Assad’s ouster, Syria experienced significant unrest, including an uprising within the Alawite community, leading to violent clashes with government forces and hundreds of deaths.
The situation triggered an international backlash. Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said the Security Council “was united in what we discussed today... everyone emphasized... the inadmissibility of what happened, the mass murders, and violence.” The US denounced the “radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis” for massacring members of Syrian minority groups, while the EU blamed the situation on “pro-Assad elements” attacking “interim government forces.”