Saniora Chairs March 14 Officials Meeting on Cabinet, Polls

Top leaders from the March 14 alliance have held a meeting to discuss the cabinet formation efforts and the parliamentary elections crisis, An Nahar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that the meeting, which was held on Tuesday and attended by al-Mustaqbal, the Lebanese Forces, the Phalange party and March 14 independent figures, was chaired by al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora.

The conferees reached a conclusion that the new government, which PM-designate Tammam Salam has been tasked with forming, was not looming in the horizon.

They also agreed that a deal on either holding the elections based on the 1960 law or extending parliament's mandate hadn't made any progress, An Nahar said.

According to the daily, the March 14 alliance backs a short extension of the legislature's term pending an agreement on a new law that would govern the polls.

Zahle MP Nicolas Fattoush has proposed a draft-law to extend parliament's term for two years until June 20, 2015.

Fattoush is also a caretaker minister.