To say that no changes have been made in the new formation of the Syrian government is inaccurate. Only those unaware of the details of the Syrian crisis assume that the new government — the second for Syrian Prime Minister Adnan al-Halqi — is the same as the first.

Observers may argue that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made serious changes in important positions by issuing a decree on Aug. 27 for the formation of the first government under his new presidential term. These positions partially spurred the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011 and the disputes within the Syrian regime circles for more than a year, even during the military confrontations.

Damascus has been suffering from a latent conflict between two political and economic currents for nearly a decade and a half. The first is liberal par excellence, while the second is more socialist and conservative. This conflict has been out in the open on several occasions, especially when events took a political turn.

The main liberal wing was represented by former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah al-Dardari, a staunch advocate of liberal policies, who took office between 2003 and 2008. The socialist current, on the other hand, was represented by former Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Qadri Jamil, a communist who took office in 2012, until his dismissal in October 2013.