Amir Hakouk | Mohammad Deeb Bazat | Yazan Kur
The success of governments in transitional phases is not limited to changing the names of officials. It is tied to their ability to build a public administration based on competence, include expertise in decision-making, and invest in developing their staff.
In Syria, the wave of appointments in state institutions since the new administration took power has reopened debate over the foundations on which public institutions are being run, and whether selection criteria are based on merit and experience or on considerations of trust and loyalty.
Alongside the debate over appointments, other questions of equal importance have emerged: To what extent are national competencies and expertise involved in shaping policies and making decisions? Can training programs that some government institutions have begun implementing address shortcomings in public administration, or will their success remain tied to the proper selection of leaders and the construction of a governance system based on transparency and accountability?
In this in-depth report, Enab Baladi examines the views of experts in administration, governance, economics, and human development on the relationship between competence and loyalty, the impact of participatory decision-making on institutional performance, and the role of training in qualifying government staff, as integrated pillars for rebuilding state institutions and restoring Syrians’ trust in them.
Broad Dismissals and Appointments
Government Reshapes Syrian State Institutions
Since the new Syrian administration came to power, it has moved to reshape state institutions through a broad wave of dismissals and appointments that included a large number of ministries and public administrations.
The government justified these steps as necessary to restructure institutions after years of war and remove the effects of the former regime. However, the changes sparked wide debate over the standards governing appointments, especially amid repeated accusations that political and factional loyalty has come before competence and administrative experience.
By contrast, observers point to a pattern suggesting that the transitional government is relying on trusted figures capable of implementing its program.
Experts in administration and governance, along with civil society activists, believe that the continuation of this approach negatively affects the performance of state institutions and delays recovery and reconstruction.
The Directorate of Administrative Development in Hama launches a specialized training program to develop the competency selection system and strengthen the work environment, 3 July 2026. (Ministry of Administrative Development in Syria)
Appointments Between the Needs of the Phase and Competence
Government appointments represent the first test for any new authority, as they determine the nature of the administration that will lead state institutions during the coming phase.
In the Syrian case, observers believe that a large share of appointments has gone to figures close to the new administration or drawn from the circles that previously governed northwestern Syria, while the presence of administrative competencies with long experience in state institutions has declined.
Here, administration and governance expert and director of the European Institute for Political Initiatives and Strategic Analysis, Dr. Bassem Hatahet, believes that the core problem is not related to individuals as much as to the absence of an institutional framework regulating the appointment process. He explained that the Syrian state suffers from weakness in the laws and policies governing public employment, making any appointments vulnerable to suspicion as long as they are not based on transparent standards that rely on competence, experience, and merit, as he put it.
Hatahet told Enab Baladi that improving salaries or modifying the public-sector pay and grading structure is not enough to reform public administration if it is not accompanied by an integrated human resources management system that includes recruitment, evaluation, promotion, and accountability, because real reform begins with building institutions capable of selecting the most qualified.
“The core problem is not related to individuals as much as to the absence of an institutional framework regulating the appointment process. The Syrian state also suffers from weakness in the laws and policies governing public employment.”
Dr. Bassem Hatahet
Administration and governance expert
For his part, administrative sciences expert and dean of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences at Ebla University, Dr. Sabri Hassan, believes that the absence of competencies in public administrations is a structural flaw and a “very serious” future problem. He said it leads to lower productivity, indifference, the flight of competencies, and the destruction of the work environment, and therefore to a decline in public services. It also leads to the spread of corruption at the expense of institutional performance.
Hassan told Enab Baladi that the administrative reality, in the absence of competencies, is shaped by standards based on loyalties and patronage. Leaders are selected on the basis of loyalty, kinship, and personal ties, in addition to security criteria, where priority is given to security control and compliance instead of merit and scientific and practical skills.
Civil activist George Tlamas, meanwhile, believes the flaw began with confusion between the concept of the state and the concept of the government. He said state institutions must remain professional, independent institutions that continue regardless of changes in governments, while tying them to political authority reproduces a model based on loyalty rather than competence, which directly affects the quality of administration and services.
How Does Weak Competence Affect State Institutions?
The effects of appointments do not stop at the selection of individuals. They extend to institutions’ ability to carry out their daily tasks. The further selection standards move away from experience and specialization, the greater the likelihood of slow procedures, poor planning, and a higher rate of administrative errors.
Dr. Bassem Hatahet said that the absence of the right person in the right place leads to a decline in decision-making efficiency, lower productivity, and a higher cost of administrative mistakes, while the presence of qualified competencies within a clear institutional framework improves service quality and strengthens citizens’ trust in institutions.
Dr. Sabri Hassan expands on these effects, noting that weak competencies create a chain of problems that begins with mismanagement and does not end with the deterioration of public services. According to him, lack of experience leads to:
- Poor service delivery: The administrative gap is directly reflected in the deterioration of basic services provided to citizens.
- Lower quality of services provided to citizens: This leads to lengthy bureaucratic procedures.
- Paralysis in decision-making: The absence of specialization and competence leads to weak strategic planning, poor crisis management, and poor allocation of resources.
- Weak oversight and accountability: The absence of competence in oversight positions leads to the spread of administrative and financial corruption, which negatively affects the quality of services provided to citizens.
- Excessive centralization: Concentrating decisions in the hands of a few people with limited experience and competence obstructs daily work in institutions, thereby increasing burdens on citizens in terms of time, effort, and money.
- A widening gap between administration and society, and weak trust: All of the above leads to poor services and complicated bureaucratic treatment, which causes citizens lose trust in state institutions and the decisions and services they produce.
The lack of experience among some administrative figures leads to complicated administrative procedures, weak planning, poor distribution of resources, and increased centralization.
Dr. Sabri Hassan
Expert in administrative sciences and governance
George Tlamas agrees with this view, stressing that civilian state institutions should be managed by people with academic and administrative expertise, not by figures who come from military or combat backgrounds.
He noted that Syria has significant competencies inside and outside the country that could have been used during the reconstruction phase, but reduced reliance on them may weaken institutions’ ability to regain their effectiveness.
The Ministry of Administrative Development holds a specialized workshop to develop governorates’ organizational structures, 14 June 2026. (Ministry of Administrative Development)
Syrian Competencies Between Marginalization and Continued Migration
Experts believe the repercussions of appointment policies are not limited to institutional performance. They also extend to the future of Syrian human capital at a time when the country needs all of its expertise for reconstruction.
Dr. Bassem Hatahet said the absence of justice and equal opportunity drives qualified people to lose motivation to work in the public sector and to seek opportunities in the private sector or outside the country. He noted that preserving competencies requires building an employment system based on merit, not other considerations.
Dr. Sabri Hassan warned that the continuation of this reality worsens the migration of doctors, engineers, university professors, and other specialists because they do not find a work environment that values their expertise or provides them with fair opportunities for career development. This drains specialized competencies inside Syria, which the state needs during the recovery phase.
This intersects with what George Tlamas argues. He believes that ignoring Syrian expertise, whether inside the country or spread abroad, represents a major loss for Syria, especially since the current phase requires technical and administrative expertise more than it needs political or military loyalties.
Tlamas also noted that appointing officials from outside governorates to manage their institutions, despite the presence of qualified local staff, has created a sense of exclusion among many local communities and contributed to increased social tension.
“Appointing officials from outside governorates to manage their institutions, despite the presence of qualified local staff, has created a sense of exclusion among many local communities.”
George Tlamas
Civil activist
Is the Presence of Some Qualified Figures Enough?
Alongside the appointment of officials who previously worked in administrations in northwestern Syria or in civil institutions linked to the previous administration in Idlib (northwestern Syria), academic and independent figures have emerged who later joined the government or public bodies.
Most of these figures were outside Syria during the years of the Syrian revolution. Although they appear to account for only a small proportion of appointments, some experts considered this a positive sign that some competencies were beginning to be relied upon.
Here, experts explain that the problem does not lie in people’s backgrounds themselves, but in the absence of declared and clear standards that guarantee equal opportunity for all Syrians.
They stress that there are still no official data or accurate statistics that make it possible to determine the proportion of officials coming from factional or military backgrounds compared with civilians or independents, making any circulating figures unverifiable.
They also stress that building trust requires announcing selection standards to the public and subjecting all appointments to oversight and accountability.
Experts’ views indicate that the absence of competence and transparency standards threatens to weaken state institutions and continue the loss of skilled people, while building a professional administrative apparatus based on justice and equal opportunity is one of the essential conditions for the success of the transitional phase and the restoration of Syrians’ trust in their state institutions.
To improve the administrative and governance reality related to appointments, Dr. Sabri Hassan proposes several measures:
- Centralized competitive recruitment examinations: Launching unified and transparent electronic exams for each sector to avoid human interference and ensure fairness.
- Independent selection committees: Forming neutral committees of experts and academics to evaluate applicants.
- Clear and transparent clear and transparent job descriptions: Defining the requirements and skills needed for each position with full clarity and transparency, and selecting the most suitable candidate on that basis without considering anything other than competence and academic qualification.
Reforming the Legal Framework for Public Employment
Dr. Bassem Hatahet believes the priorities are:
- Rebuilding the system of laws and public policies governing public employment in line with the principles of good governance.
- Adopting transparent standards for appointment and promotion based on competence, experience, and merit, with fair and public competition.
- Completing reform of the salary scale by linking it to an integrated system of performance management and accountability, rather than settling for financial increases alone.
- Developing a clear national plan to achieve equal opportunity in education, employment, and promotions, ensuring justice among all citizens.
- Strengthening oversight and accountability over appointment decisions, and publishing selection standards publicly to enhance trust in institutions.
- Accelerating the protection of the principles of equality and social justice, because Syrian society faces major social and economic challenges, and stability or development cannot be achieved without a fair distribution of opportunities and rights.
Building a stable state with a strong economy and society requires a shift toward real participation, involving civil society and the private sector, and adopting governance standards in administration and decision-making.
Therefore, this requires excluding all forms of loyalty, patronage, and favoritism as standards, and adopting scientific and practical competence regardless of ethnicity, religion, sect, or region in order to begin economic recovery and reconstruction.
Dr. Sabri Hassan
Expert in administrative sciences and governance
The Directorate of Administrative Development in Hama launches a specialized training program to develop the competency selection system and strengthen the work environment, 3 July 2026. (Ministry of Administrative Development in Syria)
Participatory Decision-Making
A Pillar for Strengthening State Institutions
The efficiency of public institutions is linked to the individual qualifications of their staff. It also extends to how decisions are made inside them and the extent to which specialists and experienced people participate in shaping policies and evaluating options before they are adopted.
With the administrative changes that Syrian state institutions witnessed after the fall of the Assad regime, questions have emerged about decision-making mechanisms inside government institutions, whether they are based on a participatory approach that allows the use of diverse expertise, or whether they are characterized by centralization and the effects this has on institutional performance and the quality of public services.
Participatory decision-making does not mean involving as many people as possible in a decision. Rather, it means building institutional mechanisms that ensure the presence of competent and experienced people at various stages of policy preparation and decision-making, contributing to reducing errors, improving implementation efficiency, and strengthening the trust of employees and the public in institutions.
Conversely, according to experts, the absence of this approach raises questions about its impact on the work environment inside the public sector and the possibility of decisions being issued without sufficient assessment or institutional discussion. This may affect the performance of government administrations and increase the challenges they face in the stage of rebuilding state institutions.
What Is Participatory Work, and Why Does It Matter?
Participatory work is a collaborative process that allows individuals and communities to contribute effectively to decisions and activities that affect their lives. It breaks the monopoly over power and provides a platform for everyone.
The importance of participatory work appears through several key aspects that contribute to building successful communities and institutions:
- Strengthening belonging and responsibility.
- Improving the quality of decisions.
- Strengthening social cohesion.
- Supporting sustainable development.
More Vulnerable to Mistakes
Consultant and economic and administrative expert Dr. Razi Mohieddin believes that involving specialists, experts, and technocrats is one of the basic principles of modern administration and good governance. He explained that the absence of this participation makes decisions less accurate and more vulnerable to mistakes, and increases the likelihood of wasting time and resources.
Mohieddin told Enab Baladi that Syria needs to expand the circle of participation and benefit from all national competencies inside and outside the country, away from any nonprofessional considerations, because the challenges of rebuilding state institutions require the integration of expertise, not reliance on a limited circle of people.
He considered that the new administrative team coming from Idlib has successful experience in some areas, but managing Syrian state institutions, given their size and complexity, requires broader expertise in managing central institutions and major economic and service sectors. According to the expert, this requires making use of various Syrian competencies without exception under the principle of participation.
He stressed that concentrating decision-making in the hands of a limited number of officials, with the absence of institutional consultations, raises the chances of decisions being made without sufficient information or an objective assessment of alternatives. This is reflected in delayed project implementation, waste of public funds, weak investment of resources, repeated mistakes, and the creation of a work environment that does not encourage qualified people to take initiative or assume responsibility.
Exclusion and Marginalization of Competencies
Administrative sciences expert Dr. Sabri Hassan believes that the absence of participation in decision-making and appointments leads to exclusion and the marginalization of competencies. This creates a gap in trust between society and institutions, weakens economic solutions, and undermines developmental stability as a result of weak institutional and economic performance and the absence of comprehensive planning.
It also increases obstacles facing the business sector and investors because they are not included in drafting administrative and economic regulatory laws. The most serious impact is political and social, namely the widening gap of trust between citizens and the government and the feeling among individuals and social components, ethnic, sectarian, and religious, that they are excluded. This may generate protests or demands to expand the powers of local administrations, increase the chances of internal conflict, and weaken national stability.
All of the above means that the absence of participatory decision-making increases divisions and delays chances for economic and social recovery, according to the administrative sciences expert.
Impact on Service Quality
Quality management and governance specialist Dr. Zaidoun al-Zoubi considered the issue of competencies and qualifications in Syria to have become complicated, as a large share of qualified people live outside the country and have settled into new jobs and lives. This makes their return to Syria difficult and requires cost and effort from the state to attract them, forcing institutions to deal with the existing reality.
Al-Zoubi said this reality does not negate the impact of the absence of participation in appointments and decision-making. He explained that there are people who have the competence needed to hold administrative positions but do not occupy them, while others who are less competent do, which directly affects service quality and institutional performance.
He considered the crisis of competencies in Syria to have multiple causes. It is linked to the migration of experienced people and the failure of many of them to return to the country, in addition to the presence of competencies that previously worked within institutions of the Syrian regime. This imposes additional challenges on the state in how to benefit from this expertise, according to al-Zoubi, who stressed that this “explains the reality but does not justify it.”
On ways to strengthen the efficiency of public administration, al-Zoubi noted that the starting point is the presence of competent leadership, because the competence of those who lead an institution is reflected in the performance of the entire institution.
“Benefiting from Syrian competencies outside the country, even through different formats such as short advisory missions, allows expertise to be transferred and contributes to qualifying the staff working inside state institutions.”
Zaidoun al-Zoubi
Specialist in quality management and governance
A Mechanism for Applying Participatory Decision-Making
Consultant and economic and administrative expert Dr. Razi Mohieddin called for strengthening participation and raising the efficiency of public administration through:
- Adopting clear and transparent standards for appointment and promotion based on competence, experience, and achievement.
- Involving experts and technocrats in advisory committees.
- Applying the principles of good governance based on transparency, accountability, and oversight.
- Building an institutional decision-making system based on data and studies.
He also stressed the importance of developing professional training programs linked to performance measurement, improving salaries and incentives to attract competencies and limit their migration, making use of Syrian expertise inside and outside the country, and strengthening a culture of teamwork inside institutions.
According to Mohieddin, the problem is not limited to a shortage of competencies. It also includes weak governance, participatory decision-making, and transparency. He considered investment in people, reliance on competence, and expanding participation in decision-making to be the fastest path to building a more efficient public administration capable of achieving development.
From one of the workshops launched by the Ministry of Administrative Development for its staff in Aleppo, 27 June 2026. (Ministry of Administrative Development)
Training in Government Institutions and Its Impact on Administrative Performance
Against the backdrop of competence standards in the government sector and the lack of experience among a wide segment of new managers and employees, questions are growing about the role training programs can play in developing staff performance.
Professor at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Damascus and governance expert Dr. Zakwan Kreit believes training courses are among the most important tools used by government institutions to raise the efficiency of their employees and managers, especially amid the growing challenges facing public administration.
Government institutions are moving toward organizing training courses targeting employees and managers as part of declared efforts to develop administrative performance and raise workers’ efficiency.
However, these steps also raise questions about the extent to which training can address the structural problems facing public administration, and whether it can compensate for weak academic qualifications or fill gaps in the experience required to hold leadership positions.
In modern administrative practices, training is not viewed as an end in itself, but as one link in the development of human resources within institutions. This process begins with choosing the right person for the right position, passes through scientific qualification and the acquisition of practical experience, and reaches continuous training that keeps pace with the development of administrative methods and work requirements.
Kreit told Enab Baladi that government institutions constantly need to update the skills of their staff, because the work environment is always changing, whether in terms of technologies or administrative methods. This makes training a means of preserving staff efficiency and increasing their readiness to deal with changes.
“Government institutions constantly need to update the skills of their staff, because the work environment is always changing.”
Dr. Zakwan Kreit
Governance expert and professor at the University of Damascus
Training Is “Not a Cure” for All Administrative Problems
According to Kreit, training is not limited to transferring information. It contributes to developing decision-making, time management, teamwork, planning, and the use of modern technologies, which directly affects the quality of performance inside institutions and leads to higher productivity and improved services.
Kreit believes that investing in the training of government staff is the most influential element in institutional success. He explained that an employee who receives continuous training is more capable of adapting to changes and better prepared to assume administrative responsibilities.
At the same time, he stressed that training cannot be viewed as a cure for all administrative problems, because its success is linked to the presence of a sound institutional environment, an administration that relies on clear standards in selecting and evaluating employees, and continuous development plans based on actual work needs.
Can Courses Compensate for the Absence of Academic Qualifications?
One of the most prominent questions raised by the debate over public administration is the extent to which training can compensate for weak academic qualifications, especially amid the presence of officials who hold administrative positions despite having modest educational credentials.
Dr. Kreit believes the answer is not absolute. Training courses can fill part of the knowledge gap when they are professionally designed and focus on applied aspects and administrative and technical skills, especially for people who have long practical experience in the field in which they work.
However, according to Kreit, this does not mean training can replace academic education, because academic qualifications give their holders the theoretical and methodological foundation that helps them analyze problems, make decisions, and understand the administrative, economic, and legal systems governing institutional work.
He added that modern administration is based on combining theoretical knowledge and practical experience, not on one without the other. Even a manager with long experience needs to constantly update their information, and a person with academic qualifications needs to acquire field experience that enables them to turn knowledge into practical application.
“Modern administration is based on combining theoretical knowledge and practical experience, not on one without the other.”
Dr. Zakwan Kreit
Governance expert and professor at the University of Damascus
Governance Begins with Proper Selection
Dr. Zakwan Kreit believes the debate over some people assuming administrative positions despite having modest qualifications should be read from the perspective of governance and sound administration, which are fundamentally based on clear and transparent standards for selecting leaders.
He said practical experience may be an important factor in some jobs, but it is not enough on its own to hold leadership positions, because administration also requires the ability to plan, analyze, manage resources, and make decisions, skills strengthened by academic education and continuous professional development.
Therefore, he believes any development of public administration must begin by setting precise standards for appointment and promotion based on competence and achievement, not on nonprofessional considerations, while subjecting leaders to continuous evaluation and development programs.
Training Does Not Fix Appointment Mistakes
For his part, Dr. Haitham Mohammad Ali, who holds a PhD in education economics and is an expert in administrative development and human development, believes training is one of the basic tools for developing institutional performance, but it cannot be an alternative to properly selecting competencies from the start.
Mohammad Ali said training targets three main areas: strengthening knowledge, developing skills, and consolidating professional behaviors and ethics, helping workers perform their jobs more efficiently.
He explained that the main goal of training is to bridge the gap between current performance and desired performance inside an institution, as part of a continuous development process, not as a means of addressing recruitment mistakes.
“The main goal of training is to bridge the gap between current performance and desired performance inside an institution.”
Haitham Mohammad Ali
Doctor specializing in education economics
He added that every job has clear requirements, including academic qualification, experience, personal traits, and professional competencies, and therefore selecting the right person must precede any training process.
He considered that many institutions make the mistake of believing training can compensate for weak competencies, while reality shows that training succeeds when it is built on a correct foundation, beginning with sound appointment and then continuing with ongoing development.
Goals and Measurement Tools
The two experts agree that the success of training is not measured by the number of courses or certificates granted, but by the extent to which it is reflected in employee performance and service quality.
Kreit noted that training programs do not achieve their goals unless they are built on a careful study of institutional needs, and unless they include clear objectives, qualified trainers, and mechanisms to measure the impact of training before and after implementation.
He also stressed the importance of providing a work environment that allows employees to apply what they have learned, because many training programs lose their value when an employee returns to an institution that does not encourage development or does not grant the necessary powers to make use of new skills.
Mohammad Ali, for his part, believes training should be part of a sustainable human resources management policy linked to evaluation, promotion, and incentives, not a seasonal activity or a formal procedure.
The two experts agree that improving the performance of government institutions cannot be achieved by relying on training alone. It requires an integrated system that begins with selecting competencies, passes through academic qualification and practical experience, and continues with training, evaluation, and professional development.
The Directorate of Administrative Development in Homs launches a training program to strengthen planning and follow-up skills in institutional work, 24 May 2026. (Ministry of Administrative Development in Syria)
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