MP Boutros Harb said on Tuesday that an invitation for a consultative gathering at the Baabda Palace should have been extended to all political parties instead of confining it to those in power, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

“The invitation should not have been limited to the parties in power, it should have been extended to those outside the authority. Only then would the meeting at the Presidential Palace be chaired by the leader of the the entire Lebanese instead of leader of the ruling authority,” said Harb in an interview to the daily.

President Michel Aoun invited political parties represented in the government for a consultative meeting in Baabda on Thursday and he addressed an invitation to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Monday credited Hizbullah and Prime Minister Saad Hariri for the approval of the new electoral law, which the FPM says will improve Christian representation in parliament.

President Michel Aoun on Monday signed a decree opening an extraordinary legislative session from June 21 to October 16.

General Security announced Monday the arrest of a Lebanese member of the terrorist Islamic State group who was plotting to carry out a “suicide bombing” in the country.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has stressed that the alliance between Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement is “built on firm foundations, not short-lived interests.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has welcomed President Michel Aoun's call for a meeting in Baabda among the leaders of the political parties that are represented in government.

Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh's participation in a Baabda meeting called for by President Michel Aoun is expected to receive significant media coverage on Thursday along with the key talks that will gather the leaders of the parties represented in government.

Taimur Jumblat, the son of Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat and his declared political heir, on Sunday toured several churches in the Chouf region to honor Christian residents who were slain on March 16, 1977 in the wake of the assassination of Druze leader Kamal Jumblat.

Social Affairs Minister Pierre Bou Assi of the Lebanese Forces has stressed that the approval of a new electoral law has spared the country political vacuum and several threats.