The President of the Syrian transitional period, Ahmed al-Sharaa, presented the new government. The Cabinet of Ministers turned out to be mixed in religious and ethnic composition: it included Kurds, Alawites and Druze. One female minister also appeared in it. This is necessary in order to convince Western countries to lift the sanctions imposed on Syria during the era of ex-President Bashar al-Assad. But the new government did not include representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish–dominated military alliance that controls the northeast of the country.
The Syrian Cabinet, which included 23 people, will be the first permanent government since the collapse of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024. The team includes technocratic politicians who come from different ethnic and religious groups.
For example, the Alawite minority, on which the previous political and military elite of Syria relied, is represented by Yarub Badr, an engineer who was educated in France and was the Minister of Transport of Syria until 2011, that is, before the outbreak of the civil war. He has been assigned to lead the Ministry of Transport again. The Ministry of Agriculture was entrusted to Amgad Badr, a native of the Druze community.
At the same time, the Cabinet of Ministers included the only Christian woman, Hind Kabawat, who received the portfolio of Minister of Social Affairs and Labor.
“Our country is entering a new historical period on its way to a better future,” said al–Sharaa, speaking at a ceremony dedicated to the establishment of the government. “We are announcing the formation of a government of creation and change that will undertake reconstruction and carry out reforms.” He added: “I assure the Syrian people of the beginning of building a strong and stable state that guarantees the interests of the nation and every citizen. I urge everyone to join hands and work for the Syria we deserve.”
The announcement of the formation of a new government was postponed by Damascus until the last, according to sources in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Modon. The reason was that the transitional administration, led by al-Sharaa, conducted protracted negotiations with the authorities of Northeastern Syria. Despite the fact that the SDF, which controls this region, recently agreed to an integration agreement with Damascus, there are still disagreements between the parties. The proof of this was that the representatives of the DSS were never included in the new cabinet. However, there is a Kurd in the announced government – the Minister of Education, Mohammed Terko.
Fears that the new government would not be balanced arose after al-Sharaa signed the text of the Constitutional Declaration on March 13, which is intended to become the legal basis of the state during political transit. She approved the presidential form of government and actually laid the foundation for the expansion of presidential powers: for example, the Constitutional Declaration abolished the role of the Prime Minister and gave Sharaa the opportunity to appoint judges and members of the legislature. There were suggestions that the next step would be the appointment of ministers from al-Sharaa’s inner circle.
The current government looks like an attempt to allay all concerns and make it clear to the international community that sanctions should be lifted from Syria. “We call on the international community to contribute to the process of rebuilding what was destroyed by the previous regime,” said new Economy Minister Nidal al-Shaar. “We have a historic opportunity to rebuild our economy on a more solid foundation. Our strategy is aimed at strengthening the manufacturing sectors, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, opening up the economy and attracting local and foreign investment.” He added that the cabinet will “create jobs and increase transparency, strive to provide an attractive and safe investment environment.”
American and European officials, quoted by The Washington Post, said they were closely monitoring al-Sharaa’s commitment to inclusivity in order to explore the possibility of freeing Syria from Western sanctions. However, there are no signs that they will be lifted in the near future. To do this, Western states are putting forward a wide range of conditions for Syria, including the destruction of old chemical weapons stockpiles and cooperation in the fight against terrorism. A separate requirement is to guarantee the safety of ethnic and religious minorities.
“We are following the actions of the Syrian interim government on a number of issues, defining and reflecting on the future US policy towards Syria,” Tammy Bruce, the head of the State Department’s press service, said recently. “We also continue to call for the creation of an inclusive, civilian–led government that can ensure the effectiveness, responsiveness, and representativeness of national institutions.”
However, Bruce added that “the sanctions dynamics are not changing.” “There are no plans to change it at this stage. Previous measures remain in place,” the head of the State Department’s press service informed. She drew attention to the massacre recently carried out by supporters of the transitional Government in the coastal areas of the country, densely populated by Alawites.
