DAMASCUS, 11 December — Syrian government resigned yesterday in a long-awaited move analysts regard as a sign that President Bashar Assad will try to push through reforms by forming a new Cabinet.
The official SANA news agency said Bashar accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mustafa Mero’s government and asked him to form a new Cabinet, but gave no details about its shape. The present government will stay on as a caretaker until the new one is formed, it said.
Analysts and diplomats believe changes will come in the economic portfolios. Bashar pledged political and economic liberalization last year when he succeeded his late father Hafez Assad. According to sources, some ministries are likely to merged. "I predict all the economy ministers will be changed," said one diplomat, who expected the rest of the Cabinet to remain unchanged.
He believed the new appointments would be made by the end of the week. One diplomat familiar with the government’s internal politics said the resignation opened the way for a more reformist government, but that it was still too early to predict a radical change.
"It’s all very open. This is in keeping with what I’ve been expecting, but there is no clear indication about what comes next, whether it’ll be a major change," he said.
Bashar fanned hopes he would push through reforms after he took office by releasing hundreds of political prisoners and allowing political debate forums that ventured criticism of the government and called for more political liberties.
Analysts believe some elements are hampering economic reform, partly out of vested interests, but they indicate that Bashar’s pushing through of new laws allowing for private banks and a stock market show he is committed to reforming the economy.
Bashar recently signed into law a 2002 budget projecting expenditure of $7.6 billion and has pledged to focus on creating jobs in the country.
