The choice of cabinet officials was seen as a litmus test for whether the rebels who ousted Bashar al-Assad would deliver on a pledge to create a government representative of all Syrians.

Syria’s new transitional government has been sworn in nearly four months after the Assad family was removed from power and as the new authorities in Damascus work to bring back stability to the war-to

The announcement was made just in time to meet a self-imposed deadline to form an interim government in March, almost four months after the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham deposed former president Bashar al-Assad in a largely bloodless military offensive and installed Sharaa as leader.

The 23-member Cabinet, which is religiously and ethnically mixed, is the first in the country’s five-year transitional period and replaces the interim government that was formed shortly after Bashar Assad was removed from power in early December.

Sharaa on Saturday announced a new transitional government dominated by close allies and including one woman, replacing caretaker authorities in place since the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.