Published on September 1, 2020

On August 30, 2020, the Syrian President Bashar al-ASSAD signed the decree no. 210 for 2020 appointing a new cabinet headed by Hussein ARNOUS without changing the heads of so-called “sovereign” portfolios.

According to the president’s chancellery, the new government will be led by Prime Minister Hussein ARNOUS, who had served as the head of the cabinet since June 11, 2020, after former prime minister Imad KHAMIS resigned.

Hussein ARNOUS was born in Idleb in 1953 and graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Aleppo in 1978. He headed the Engineers Syndicate branch in Idleb from 1989 to 1994 and was appointed Governor of Deir Ezzor from 2009 until 2011 and Governor of Quneitra in 2011, in addition to being a member of the central leadership of al-Baath Arab Socialist Party since 2013.

In the previous government, ARNOUS was minister of Syria’s water resources from 2018.

Under the decree, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ali Abdullah AYYOUB maintain his post in the new cabinet.

The foreign and interior ministers, Walid MUALLEM and Mohammad Khaled al-RAHMOUN, will also continue fulfilling their duties.

The new finance minister is Kenan YAGI.

The Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources and Minister of Industry will be Bassam TUOME and Ziyad SABBAG.

The new Minister of Agriculture and Agricultural Reform is Muhammed Khassan KATNAN.

The new Syrian government was set up after the July 19, 2020, elections to the People’s Council. The National Unity bloc secured victory in the polls. It is led by the Arab Socialist Baath Party, where President Bashar ASSAD is Secretary-General.

ARNOUS is now the head of a government that must grapple with a coronavirus pandemic that is sparking alarm among medics and aid groups.

It’s expected that the new cabinet will make big changes to the ministers involved in the economic sector (economy, industry, and agriculture) because it will be a priority.

The ARNOUS government has a number of 6 women instead of 4 as previously, the number of Christians increased from 3 to 4 and the average age of ministers will be reduced, and for the first time, there will be people under the age of 40.

The prime minister’s official title is the head of the Council of Ministers. He is not the head of the ministers because according to the constitution the president is the head of the executive branch.

This article was edited using the data from the English.alaraby.co.uk, Mei.edu/blog, English.aawsat.com, Sana.sy, and Tass.com.