The Kataeb Party stressed on Monday the need for all lawmakers to achieve the quorum of Wednesday's parliamentary session to elect a president.

It said in a statement after its weekly politburo meeting: “The party will take part in the second round of the elections and all other subsequent ones.”

The Syndicate Coordination Committee warned on Monday of a “strong reaction” if the new wage scale was implemented in installments or not according to its conditions, as joint parliamentary committees are racing to finish studying the draft this week.

The SCC also announced a general strike on Tuesday in all public administrations, as well as in public and private educational institutions.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed that all efforts should be exerted in order to stage the presidential elections.

He told the Kuwaiti al-Qabas newspaper: “The government does not seek to fill the presidential vacuum.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized on Monday the March 8 camp for submitting blank ballots during last week's presidential elections, which he said resulted in the obstruction of the polls.

He slammed the tactics as hindering democracy, urging the camp “to choose a presidential candidate to ensure the success of Wednesday's presidential election at parliament.”

Military Examining Magistrate Judge Fadi Sawan issued on Monday two separate indictments calling for the death penalty against 32 suspects involved in the gunbattles in the northern city of Tripoli.

In the first batch 18 people, including Hussein Ahmed, who is in custody, were accused of forming an armed group with the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities, igniting sectarian strife and killing security forces.

The Union of Public Transportation Drivers held a demonstration on Monday, warning the government that its protest would expand if it did not meet its demands.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), the head of the union, Abdul Amir Najdeh, called for the amendment of the traffic laws and urged the authorities to stop non-Lebanese drivers, who have left the market saturated.

The military readiness of the Israeli army to engage in a war with Hizbullah has distinctly decreased, the Israeli right-wing newspaper Maariv said in a report.

According to statements by high-ranking Israeli army officers, the Jewish state cannot engage in a war with Hizbullah anytime soon.

Speaker Nabih Berri has kept himself at a distance from the consultations carried out by a ministerial-parliamentary committee on the wage scale amid rising anger against the authorities for seeking to make the payment in installments.

In remarks carried by several local dailies on Monday, Berri said: “I am not following up the (meetings) of the committee and I don't interfere in its work.”

Information Minister Ramzi Jreij considered on Monday that the media can criticize the Special Tribunal for Lebanon if there is a need, slamming the summons by the international court of al-Jadeed TV and al-Akhbar newspaper's journalists on charges of “contempt and obstruction of justice.”

“The reports published by the two media outlets are responsible and just criticism,” Jreij said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

Speaker Nabih Berri has warned that he would change his “classical” approach to the presidential polls if lawmakers failed again to elect a new head of state.

In remarks published by local dailies on Monday, Berri said: “I am so far dealing with the presidential elections in a classical way.”