ISG Deplores 'Lack of Progress' in Forming New Lebanese Govt.

The International Support Group for Lebanon on Friday lamented the lack of progress in the negotiations to form a new Lebanese government.

“Today’s International Support Group meeting in Beirut discussed with grave concerns the deepening complex crisis in #Lebanon, deplored lack of progress on the formation of a government, but also the absence of a more determined action of existing state and financial institutions,” U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis said in a tweet.

“Why it seems that foreigners are more concerned about the well-being and fate of #Lebanon and its people, more alarmed by lack of action and procrastination than the country’s political elites?” Kubis wondered.

The International Support Group comprises representatives of the U.N. and the governments of China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the UK and the U.S., together with the European Union and the Arab League. 

It was launched in September 2013 by the U.N. Secretary-General with former President Michel Suleiman to help mobilize support and assistance for Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty and state institutions and to specifically encourage assistance for the Lebanese Army, Syrian refugees in Lebanon and host communities and government programs and public services impacted by the Syrian crisis.