ISG Urges 'Free, Fair and Transparent' Elections in Lebanon

The International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG) met in Beirut Friday to review preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Echoing the U.N. Security Council press statement on Lebanon of 4 February 2022, and recalling its previous statements, the ISG reiterated its call for “free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections, as scheduled on 15 May 2022.”

The ISG noted that while the international community was “deeply committed to and had provided significant financial, material, technical and political support to Lebanon’s electoral process,” the elections are first and foremost “a right and expectation of the people of Lebanon and a sovereign responsibility which is incumbent on the authorities to deliver on.”

With the elections just three months away, the ISG urged “expeditious preparatory work respecting the existing legislative framework and the constitutional timelines,” calling on the authorities to “promptly make available all the necessary resources and intensify technical and administrative preparations to ensure the timeliness and integrity of the electoral process.”

Specifically, the ISG urged relevant bodies to “allocate the necessary financial resources to hold the elections in Lebanon and abroad, enable the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities and the Supervisory Commission for Elections to be fully functional, and ensure timely organization for the conduct of the diaspora voting.”

The ISG also called on all political actors to “engage responsibly and constructively in the electoral process, preserve calm and commit to peaceful elections for the benefit of the country and all the Lebanese people.”

Moreover, the ISG called on all political stakeholders to take every possible step to “encourage and ensure the inclusion of women candidates on their electoral lists and strengthen women’s political representation and participation across the board.”

The ISG also said that it “continues to stand by Lebanon and its people.”

The International Support Group comprises the U.N., the EU, the Arab League and the governments of China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the UK and the U.S. 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.”