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Syria: Presidential Decree Appoints 12 New Ministers

Arnous visits on August 24 , 2020 the site of an attack on a gas pipeline near Damascus, between the areas of Adra and al-Dhamir. (AFP)
Arnous visits on August 24 , 2020 the site of an attack on a gas pipeline near Damascus, between the areas of Adra and al-Dhamir. (AFP)
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Syria: Presidential Decree Appoints 12 New Ministers

Arnous visits on August 24 , 2020 the site of an attack on a gas pipeline near Damascus, between the areas of Adra and al-Dhamir. (AFP)
Arnous visits on August 24 , 2020 the site of an attack on a gas pipeline near Damascus, between the areas of Adra and al-Dhamir. (AFP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree Sunday appointing a new cabinet headed by Hussein Arnous without changing the heads of sovereign portfolios.

The decree, published on the presidency's social media channels, keeps the heads of the foreign affairs, defense, interior, economy and information ministries in their posts but changes those in charge of 12 other cabinet portfolios, including the ministries of finance, energy and public health.

The Arnous-led government, which includes three female ministers, is the fifth to be formed since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011.

Assad on Tuesday named Arnous as prime minister after he was appointed interim prime minister in June ahead of last month's parliamentary polls.

The current government will continue its work until next July, which is the expected date for the next presidential elections, after which it vows to resign and relegate itself as a caretaker govt. until a presidential decree is issued to name a new premier, according to Article 125 of the Syrian constitution.

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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
The outcome reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in December.
The presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Aoun fell short of the 86 votes needed in a first round vote, but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement backed him.
Momentum built behind Aoun on Wednesday as Hezbollah's long preferred candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, withdrew and declared support for the army commander, and as French envoy shuttled around Beirut, urging his election in meetings with politicians, three Lebanese political sources said.
Aoun's election is a first step towards reviving government institutions in a country which has had neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Aoun left office.
Lebanon, its economy still reeling from a devastating financial collapse in 2019, is in dire need of international support to rebuild from the war, which the World Bank estimates cost the country $8.5 billion.
Lebanon's system of government requires the new president to convene consultations with lawmakers to nominate a Sunni Muslim prime minister to form a new cabinet, a process that can often be protracted as factions barter over ministerial portfolios.
Aoun has a key role in shoring up a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which was brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.
Aoun, 60, has been commander of the Lebanese army since 2017.