International Support Group urges Lebanon to elect a new president 'without delay'

BEIRUT — The International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG) urged the country's Parliament on Wednesday to elect, "without delay," a new president to "unite the Lebanese people in the national interest."

The group was established in 2013 by then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, along with former Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, to mobilize assistance for Lebanon's stability, sovereignty and state institutions.

On Wednesday, the group issued a statement expressing "concern [for] the continued lack of cooperation among Lebanese political actors that precipitated a presidential vacuum, at a time when Lebanon most requires quick and decisive action to address its dire economic, financial and humanitarian crises."

The ISG also underlined Lebanon's need for "fully functioning state institutions that can pursue comprehensive reforms with a strategic vision that generates substantive change for the public good."

Lebanon is experiencing its first double executive vacancy after former President Michel Aoun's term ended Oct. 31. The ISG, who assured it "continues to stand by Lebanon and its people," called on "all stakeholders to act responsibly for the full implementation of the prior actions agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and to ensure that Lebanon’s governing institutions deliver for their citizens and address their imminent needs." 

The statement alludes to a staff-level agreement between the IMF and Lebanon to give $3 billion over four years to help the country recover from an economic crisis that caused the local currency to lose more than 90 percent of its value and plunged the majority of the population into poverty.

Lebanon has yet to execute several mandatory economic and financial reforms to unlock the IMF funds.

An IMF delegation visited Lebanon in September and stated its “regret” that the Lebanese economy is suffering a "severe depression" and that, "despite the urgency," little progress has been made to implement the necessary reforms.

Members of the ISG for Lebanon include the United Nations, the European Union, the Arab League, and the governments of China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.