New Goverment, November 27th 2005

1- Dr. Marouf Bakhet Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
2- Ziad Fareiz Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. *
3- Abdul Ilah Khatib Foreign Minister. *
4- Nader Thherat Minister of Municiapal Affairs.
5- Eid Al Fayez Minister of Interior. *
6- Husni Abu Gheida Minister of Public Works and Housing.
7- Khaled Touqan Minister of Education and Higher Education and Scientific Research.
8-Abed Shakhanbeh Minister of Justice.
9- Azmi Khreisat Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.
10-Saeed Darwazeh Minister of Health.
11- Saud Nseirat Minister of Transportaion.
12- Sharif Zoubi Minister of Industry and Commerce.
13- Suhair Al Ali Minister of Planning and International Cooperation. *
14- Khaled Irani Mninster of Environment.
15- Basem Al Salem Minister of Labor.
16- Salem Khaza’leh Minister of Developing Public Sector.
17- Abdul Fatah Salah Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.
18- Mohamad Thafer Al Alem Minister of Water and Irrigation.
19- Akef Al Zoubi Minister of Agriculture.
20- Adel Toweisi Minister of Culture.
21- Sabri Irbeihat Minister of Polotical Development and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
22- Suleiman Tarawneh Minsiter of Social Development.
23 -Muneer Nassar Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.
24- Omar Kurdi Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology

Well one thing is for sure, it’s certainly not a military government.

In “other” news, a Royal Decree has been issued calling the parliament to convene as of 1st of December; confidence vote hunting.

*The Whose Who…

– Veteran diplomat Abdel-Ilah al-Khatib returns to the post of foreign minister. He was a powerful foreign minister between 1998 and 2002 who has since been in the private sector and has strong ties in Washington and moderate Arab capitals.

- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ziad Fariz, governor of the Central Bank from 1996 to 2000 and former planning minister, will have a bigger say in shaping the country’s economic future. Fariz is a reformist who won the respect of the IMF and World Bank during stints as a key economic decision-maker.

- The only female minister – Suhair al-Ali – retained her post as planning minister. Three other women Cabinet ministers vacated their positions.

- Eid al-Fayez, who hails from the Bedouin tribal, was named interior minister.

- Former information minister in the 1990s, Nasser Jawdeh, will be named government spokesman.

UPDATES:

– Khalaf offers some homegrown opinions on the change
- Lebanon’s Daily Star article
- The Whose Who in the New Government, Profiles
- Hareega says this has all become boring and predictable

Class Photo