Syrian President Bashar al-Assad swore in Wael al-Halki as new Syrian prime minister on Saturday days after the defection of his predecessor in the post, Riyad Hijab.
Assad had appointed the health minister as Prime Minister on Thursday after the Hijab's defection on Monday.
Halki, born in 1964, is from the southern province of Deraa where the uprising against four decades of Assad family rule erupted 17 months ago.
He replaces caretaker premier Omar Ghalawanji who was appointed hours after Hijab took flight to Jordan.