Former PM: Assad's regime now controls only 30% of Syria

“I assure you, based on my experience and the post I held, that the regime has cracked.”

Hijab’s comments on Tuesday were his first public remarks since leaving his post and fleeing to Jordan with his family last week. Hijab is the highest-ranking political figure to defect from Assad’s regime.

Hijab says that he decided he could no longer support Assad because the Syrian president has no ability to halt the fighting. Activist say more than 20,000 have been killed in battles between rebels and government forces since March 2011.