Syria sees first government reshuffle since al-Assad’s ouster

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa replaces his brother and some governors and reshuffles cabinet ministers.Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has announced a series of government changes, including replacing his brother as head of the presidential office, the state news agency SANA reports.Al-Sharaa appointed former Homs Governor Abdul Rahman Badreddine al-Aama as secretary-general for the presidency. The post was previously held by al-Sharaa’s brother Maher, an appointment that had drawn accusations of nepotism.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 33-year-old rescued after falling into 18-metre-deep well in Syrialist 2 of 3US Supreme Court hears Haiti, Syria TPS case with wide-ranging implicationslist 3 of 3Syria becomes alternative energy corridor for oil as Hormuz effectively bloend of listSaturday’s reshuffle was the first since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 and comes about a year and a half into the five-year transitional period set in Syria’s constitutional declaration.According to the report, presidential decrees appointed Khaled Zaarour as information minister, replacing Hamza Mustafa, who was moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Bassel Sweidan, who heads a committee tasked with reaching settlements with business tycoons linked to the Assad-era elite, as agriculture minister.Al-Sharaa also replaced governors in the provinces of Homs, Quneitra and Deir Az Zor, the eastern province where most of Syria’s oilfields are located.No official reason was given for the changes, but Al Jazeera’s Resul Sardar Atas has previously reported that after al-Sharaa announced his new government in March last year, his choice of officials was criticised.“People had criticised the president that he had previously appointed all of his close friends to all of the ministerial positions,” Atas said.In recent months, protests and social media campaigns have emerged due to worsening economic conditions and what critics described as poor governance, suggesting another reason for al-Sharaa’s cabinet reshuffle.