Speaker Nabih Berri has admonished Prime Minister Najib Miqati during a telephone conversation on his alleged support for the 1960 electoral law that is based on a winner-takes-all system, As Safir daily reported on Wednesday.

During their conversation on Tuesday night, Berri asked Miqati whether he is supporting the 1960 law and has backed off from a government draft-law referred to the parliament last summer that calls for dividing Lebanon into 13 districts based on a proportional representation system.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati, who is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia this month, warned on Tuesday that the so-called Orthodox Gathering electoral proposal threatens the balance set by the Taef Agreement.

The Orthodox Gathering proposal, which calls for dividing Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to elect its own MPs based on a proportional representation system, leads to “more divisions among the Lebanese and threatens the balance set by the Taef,” Miqati told As Safir daily.

U.N. Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson hailed on Tuesday the “sacrifices” made by the Lebanese people in assisting Syrian refugees who have escaped the fighting in their country.

Following talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail, Eliasson said the Lebanese people are making “huge sacrifices” and the U.N. appreciates and respects the efforts to deal with the situation of the displaced Syrians.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reiterated on Tuesday that France will not interfere in Lebanon's domestic affairs, but fully supports its stability.

“France does not interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs, but we fully back stability in Lebanon,” he said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the French Foreign Ministry in Quai d'Orsay in Paris.

The March 14 opposition decided on Tuesday to boycott the parliamentary session that Speaker Nabih Berri called for on November 27 to hear a speech by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

“We will not attend the two legislative session that Berri called for to welcome the Armenian president and to show solidarity with the Palestinian people” against the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, high-ranking sources in the opposition said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

In parallel with President Michel Suleiman's strenuous efforts to find a solution for the political gridlock, head of the Progressive Socialist Party MP Walid Jumblat seems to be following the same path and plans to launch a “rescue initiative” which he will announce in a press conference, the al-Liwaa daily quoted sources close to Jumblat Saturday.

Jumblat's initiative is keen to preserve civil peace and will call on political powers, particularly Hizbullah and the al-Mustaqbal Movement, to resume contacts.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed in a statement he delivered at the Annual Arab Banking Conference on Friday that the economy should not be exploited to achieve political gains.

In his statement the PM stressed that Lebanon has achieved a slight growth rate despite the changes fanning out in the Arab world.

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated on Tuesday the necessity to hold dialogue among political powers away from external alliances, and stressed that “efforts to solve the (country's) crisis are still blocked.”

In an interview with the al-Akhbar daily, Berri encouraged Lebanese factions to solve their own problems, criticizing the opposition March 14 alliance for boycotting the cabinet activities.

Dozens of protesters from the youth organizations of the March 14 forces on Sunday staged a sit-in outside the Grand Serail at the Riad al-Solh square in downtown Beirut, demanding the departure of the government and stressing that they will press on with their “confrontation.”

In a symbolic gesture, demonstrators assembled a giant-sized puzzle with the flag of the Independence Uprising on one side and the picture of slain Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan on the other.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that dialogue is the best means to unite and enforce Lebanon in light of the current dangerous regional conditions.

“We cannot solve national issues through stubbornness and arrogance, but through dialogue. We need to find common grounds on which all Lebanese meet in order to fortify our nation during this dangerous regional situation,” stressed Miqati before his visitors at the Grand Serail.