Lebanese Ministry of Information
Lebanon has regained its full voting rights at the United Nations after paying part of what it owes the world body, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
Under U.N. rules, a country can lose its General Assembly vote if is in arrears by any amount that equals or exceeds the contributions due for the previous two years, unless it shows evidence of an inability to pay that is beyond its control.
“The Secretariat had been in touch for the last few weeks with the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations in order to help … them make the required payments, and we fully recognize that the recent events in Lebanon have challenged the banking system, delaying part of this money,” Dujarric said.
It is also without a functioning government since Saad al-Hariri quit as prime minister in October, a situation criticized this week by Jan Kubis, the by U.N.’s Special Coordinator for Lebanon, as “increasingly irresponsible”.
Reuters
