Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Tuesday that the Lebanese should decide what they want instead of “waiting for solutions from abroad which might never come.”

Urging officials to “put aside their personal and partisan interests and put the public interest ahead of anything else,” al-Rahi also called on them to “liberate themselves from the regional and international tug of war.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his wife Randa Assi Berri on Tuesday lifted bank secrecy off their accounts inside and outside Lebanon, state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said Berri and his spouse signed memos lifting their bank secrecy during a meeting with the notary public Shadi Rammal.

The director of the Middle East and North Africa department at the French foreign ministry, Christophe Farnaud, arrived Tuesday afternoon in Lebanon for talks with top officials.

Earlier in the day, several prominent civil society groups such as Beirut Madinati and the Legal Agenda said they had declined invitations to hold meetings with Farnaud, who has apparently sought to explore the stances of the protest movement.

President Michel Aoun held talks Tuesday in Baabda with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis, who was accompanied by the ambassadors representing the members of the International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG).

A statement issued by Kubis’ office said Aoun informed the participants about the current political and economic situation in Lebanon and its root causes.

Banks and schools were closed in Lebanon on Tuesday as protesters tried to prevent employees from clocking in at state institutions nearly one month into an anti-graft street movement.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday said nothing can bring enmity to his relationship with Speaker Nabih Berri, reportedly after the latter “failed” to convince Hariri to lead the upcoming new government.

Head of Lebanon’s bankers’ syndicate Assad Khoury emphasized on Tuesday that ATM machines will be stocked with cash despite an open-ended strike announced yesterday over “staff security.”

Hundreds of employees at the country’s two mobile operators went on an “open-ended” strike on Tuesday over alleged plans to cut their salaries and benefits.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday emphasized that the new government should be formed of “independent experts,” warning that “some are seeking a government of experts who would be their cronies.”

“This is not what is needed at the moment,” Geagea said after a meeting for the LF-led Strong Republic bloc.

President Michel Aoun will appear in a TV interview Tuesday at 8:30 pm to talk about the latest developments, the Presidency said on Monday.

Several Lebanese TV networks said the president is expected to announce the date of the binding parliamentary consultations for choosing a new premier during the interview.