Syria: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yesterday accepted the resignation of the cabinet of Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa Mero and appointed parliament speaker Mohammed Naji al-Otari to head a reformist government.
"Naji al-Otari is a reformist and a stern advocate of modernisation," Mahmoud al-Abrash, the speaker of parliament's foreign affairs commission, said.
President Assad said last month that pushing through reforms would be the main task of the new cabinet he planned to form. The change of prime minister is the first since he took office in 2000, succeeding his late father Hafez al-Assad. After becoming president, Mr Assad announced a wide-ranging reform programme.
Critics of the outgoing cabinet said it had been slow to put the plans into action. "I expect Otari to speed up reform to a reasonable pace. Not too fast but fast enough," said Mr Abrash.
Mr Otari, an architect, is a prominent member of the ruling Socialist Arab Baath Party, a former deputy prime minister and a former governor of the central city of Homs.
"The reform policy has been approved by the political command and Otari has proved to be a man of immense capabilities who can carry out the task," said Mr Shalah, an independent businessman seen by some analysts as a candidate for the position of prime minister.
President Assad reshuffled the cabinet a few months after taking office, changing the portfolios of finance and economy but leaving the prime minister and key political figures in place.- (Reuters)