A delegation from the Maronite institutions visited on Thursday Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi to brief him on the result of its talks with the country's top Maronite political leaders on the country's presidential crisis, stressing that the vacuum contradicted the National Pact.

Following its meeting with al-Rahi in Bkirki, the delegation issued a statement saying the failure to elect a president and the continued presence of the government contradicted the 1943 power-sharing agreement and abolished the Maronite president.

Speaker Nabih Berri urged the United States to play a “fair and balanced role” in managing the dispute between Lebanon and Israel over the two countries' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

According to As Safir newspaper published on Thursday, Berri called on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a meeting between the two officials to seek to carry out a balanced role between Lebanon and Israel “if the U.S. was interested to become an investor in the Lebanese offshore oil in the future.”

Supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad opened fire in the air and launched fireworks in several Lebanese regions as his expected election victory was officially announced on Wednesday evening, as others roamed the streets in convoys.

“Gunfire erupted in some of Beirut's suburbs and central Bekaa towns in celebration of Assad's win,” LBCI television reported.

Armed clashes erupted Wednesday between two families in the Bekaa town of Hermel, sparking panic among the residents of the region.

“Clashes with light- and medium-caliber weapons broke out between members of the Allaw and Nassereddine clans over familial disputes,” state-run National News Agency reported.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Wednesday declared a general strike at all ministries and public institutions on June 9 and 10, holding “the MPs who obstructed legislation for several months” responsible for a possible postponement of official school exams.

Following a meeting at the headquarters of the association of state-run secondary school teachers, the SCC called on “the MPs who are expressing keenness on students and refusing that they be taken hostage to take part in the June 10 parliamentary session and approve the new wage scale draft.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun announced Wednesday from Ain el-Tineh that the participation of the Change and Reform bloc MPs in parliamentary sessions “is being mulled,” noting that solutions to the political crises might be found “in the near future.”

“It is normal to talk about the thorny issues, such as the presidential vote, the cabinet's faltering work and the parliament's performance,” Aoun said after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Wednesday Russia, Iran, and Hizbullah to help end the war in Syria, saying that Lebanon has felt the impact of the crisis more than any other country.

He said: “Iran, Russia, and Hizbullah must engage in a legitimate effort to bring this war to an end.”

German prosecutors have filed terrorism charges against a Lebanese man accused of belonging to a hard-line Islamic group in Syria, and two suspected accomplices.

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday the main suspect, identified only as Ismail I., was charged with membership in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaida breakaway group.

The so-called Abra detainees have suspended their hunger strike after receiving promises that their trials would start this month, the state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday.

The suspects, who were held following the clashes that took place with the Lebanese army near the southern city of Sidon last year, went on hunger strike in Jezzine prison on Monday to protest the delay in holding their trials.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari slammed the political apathy, warning of extending the period of presidential vacuum over the sharp differences between the rival parties.

“Before May 25 the political arch-foes were enthusiastic to elect a new president... but now each alliance is reconsidering its stances, which might affect the period of vacancy,” Makari said in a interview with the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.