On 8 March 1963, a coalition of Ba'athist, Nasserist and independent Arab nationalist officers launched a coup, overthrowing Qudsi's government. The new prime minister Salah al-Din al-Bitar, a Ba'athist, appointed Hawmad and Qasim to his cabinet. Hawmad served as finance minister. However, when the Ba'athist-dominated Military Committee—the secretive junta that virtually controlled Syria—purged dozens of Nasserists from the officer corps in April and May, Hawmad and four other Nasserist ministers resigned from their posts.