UN: Keeping Lebanon without government ‘increasingly irresponsible’

Keeping Lebanon without a government is “increasingly irresponsible” given developments in the region and the country, the United Nations’ senior official in Lebanon said on Wednesday.

“Given the situation and developments in the country and the region it is increasingly irresponsible to keep Lebanon without an effective and credible government,” UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis said in a Twitter post.

“I urge the leaders to move without any further delay.”

Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Saad al-Hariri quit as prime minister in October, prompted by protests against the political elite over rampant state corruption, and is mired in a deep economic crisis.

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated dramatically since a US drone strike last week killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s military strategy in the region, where Tehran’s allies include the powerful Lebanese group Hezbollah.

After weeks of squabbling, Hassan Diab, a former minister, was designated prime minister last month.