The “exemption” of Khamis from his post was announced in a statement by Assad’s office, adding that “the government will continue its work until the next parliamentary election.”
Khamis, 59, had served as prime minister of Syria since July 2016. Before that, he had been the country’s electricity minister starting in 2014.
The presidential statement did not elaborate on the motives behind the sudden decision, but it comes as the country goes through a serious economic crisis due to a significant drop in the value of the Syrian pound against the US dollar.
Before Syria spiraled into conflict in March 2011, one US dollar was worth around 45 Syrian Pounds. This week, it trades for as much as 3,000 at grey market currency exchange offices. This dramatic decrease has affected the lives of nearly everyone in Syria, including in the northeast part of the country known to Kurds as Rojava.
The US is expected to implement a new wave of sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Act, which will target government officials and firms who do business with the state. When the sanctions go into effect on June 17. Three other stages of the sanctions will be implemented by the end of August.
Arnus, 67, has served as water minister since late 2018. He previously held the post of public affairs and housing minister for nearly two years.
