Although Prime Minister Tammam Salam has called the ministers on Tuesday for a cabinet meeting this week, but there are no guarantees that it would convene successfully knowing that several ministers have not confirmed attendance as yet, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday

Until Tuesday evening, ministers of Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement have not confirmed whether they will attend or boycott the session, complementing a similar step when they boycotted the latest cabinet meeting.

Speaker Nabih Berri defended the so-called “package deal” on the presidency, which was subject to criticism from Christian officials, and assured that it does not include any item specifying the jurisdictions of the president, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

“They say that the package deal is over, for me it still exists. Let them say what they want, it's their opinion not mine,” Berri's visitors quoted him as saying.

Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday hailed his latest meeting with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri as “very positive,” while noting that the presidential vote must not hinge on a prior agreement on so-called “package deal.”

Dozens of citizens, activists and members of political parties staged a sit-in at the Samir Qassir garden in downtown Beirut on Tuesday to condemn the bloodshed in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

Heavy clashes erupted Tuesday in the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal between jihadists from the rival Islamic State and Fateh al-Sham groups, state-run National News Agency reported.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri held talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, his media office said on Tuesday.

Hariri had arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian officials on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, and the bilateral relations between the two countries, added his media office.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Tuesday that the package deal suggested by Speaker Nabih Berri, was flatly inadmissible, stressing that MP Michel Aoun will not negotiate any settlement to help him reach the presidential post.

“There cannot be a new national contract at every due date,” said Geagea from Bkirki after a meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil stressed on Tuesday that it is “unacceptable to set conditions in return for the election of a president.

“Setting conditions for the election of a president is what made Bkirki raise its voice, and we understand that,” Bassil said after a visit to Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement Politburo member Mustafa Alloush said on Tuesday, the majority of the movement’s deputies reject the nomination of MP Michel Aoun for the post of presidency and consider it as the “greatest evil.”

“%80 of the Mustaqbal deputies are not in favor of the nomination of Change and Reform bloc head MP Michel Aoun,” Alloush told LBCI in an interview.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Tuesday that everyone has reservations about, or reject the nomination of MP Michel Aoun for the post of presidency, As Safir daily reported on Tuesday.

“The political figures that (al-Mustaqbal Movement chief) ex-PM Saad Hariri has met during his consultations have either rejected or expressed reservations about the election of the General (Aoun),” Berri told the daily.