Syrian President Bashar al- Assad asks PM Arnous to form cabinet

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on August 1 asked Hussein Arnous to form the cabinet in the Syrian Arab Republic. The Syrian Presidency announced on Twitter that the president has issued degree number 206 to assign Hussein Arnous to form government in the Syrian Arab Republic. The order came days after Assad took the oath on July 17 for his fourth term in office after winning the presidential elections. 

Arnous asked to form cabinet

Before being named as Prime Minister, Arnous was appointed as Governor of Deir Ezzor from 2009 till 2011 and as a Governor of Quneitra in 2011, from 2013 to 2016, reported news agency SANA. Arnous became Minister of Public Works and a Minister of Public Works and Housing from 2016 to 2018. Since 2013, he has become a member of the Central Leadership of al-Baath Arab Socialist Party. As per the report, before becoming prime minister, Arnous served as the minister of water resources.

Bashar al-Assad became president for the fourth time

Bashar al-Assad was sworn in as Syria's president on July 17. The Western countries have alleged the May elections to be fraudulent. The presidential palace hosted the swearing-in ceremony, which was attended by members of parliament, political personalities, officials and army officers. Assad has been in power since 2000, and his landslide re-election has never been questioned. The country is still reeling from the impact of a decade of violence and a deepening economic catastrophe as he began his new term. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his speech stated that the main barrier to investment within the country was money stuck in ailing Lebanese banks. Assad said that the frozen money was valued between $40 billion and $60 billion in a speech after being sworn in as President for a fourth seven-year term after receiving over 95 per cent of the vote in government-controlled areas.

IMAGE: AP