BY SERENE ASSI
Monday 18 March 2013
Last Update 18 March 2013 2:01 am
ISTANBUL: A former agriculture minister (click here) and an economist are leading candidates to be named Syria’s first opposition prime minister when the opposition Syrian National Coalition meets to vote in Turkey this week.
The two men are among around 10 opposition figures Coalition members are expected to consider during their gathering in Istanbul on March 18 and 19.
The list includes virtual unknowns, as well as some prominent members of the opposition to President Bashar Assad’s regime, with former agriculture minister Asaad Mustafa and economist Osama Kadi believed to be leading the pack.
In moving to select an opposition premier, who will choose a Cabinet to be approved by the Coalition, the opposition is hoping to show it can administer large swathes of captured territory where there is now a power vacuum.
The list includes virtual unknowns, as well as some prominent members of the opposition to President Bashar Assad’s regime, with former agriculture minister Asaad Mustafa and economist Osama Kadi believed to be leading the pack.
In moving to select an opposition premier, who will choose a Cabinet to be approved by the Coalition, the opposition is hoping to show it can administer large swathes of captured territory where there is now a power vacuum.
