Hopes for consensus between rival lawmakers on an electoral law were shattered on Tuesday after lawmakers from several blocs withdrew from the meeting of the joint parliamentary committees in protest at the adoption of the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal.

“We proposed today a 48-hour postponement of discussions” on article 2 of the proposal “to pave way for the success of deliberations held outside the parliament,” al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat told reporters after pulling out of the meeting.

The joint parliamentary committees voted on Monday on the first article of the Orthodox Gathering's draft electoral law, increasing the number of MPs to 134, MTV reported.

LBCI said the session has been adjourned to Tuesday morning.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati headed on Friday a meeting for previous premiers to brief them on the results of the discussions with Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani to resolve the dispute over the elections of the Higher Islamic Council.

The meeting was held in presence of former PMs Fouad Saniora and Salim al-Hoss in the absence of former PM Omar Karami.

The March 14 opposition alliance was on Thursday gearing up to mark the 8th assassination anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri at the BIEL exhibition center in downtown Beirut in the absence of key leaders.

Under the slogan of “Our Dream Will Come True,” the coalition will stress its unity despite the latest differences among its different factions on the electoral draft-law, Hariri's al-Mustaqbal newspaper said.

Former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora revealed on Sunday that al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc will soon propose a comprehensive draft-law that appeases all factions, mainly Christians.

During a press conference he held at his office in the southern city of Sidon, the head of al-Mustaqbal reiterated that the bloc rejected the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal and proportionality.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun renewed on Tuesday his support for the Orthodox Gathering parliamentary electoral law.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “I will reject any electoral draft law besides the Orthodox proposal that does not offer fair representation among the sects.”

Speaker Nabih Berri kicked off last week efforts to persuade the Mustaqbal Movement and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to agree on a new parliamentary electoral law, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Sources following the speaker's efforts said that Berri was “adamant in his position that there can be no substitute to proportional representation” in the electoral law.

A meeting held between the head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, the leader of the Phalange party and a March 14 opposition lawmaker confirmed the strong alliance between them, sources said Saturday.

An Nahar daily said the meeting that brought together al-Mustaqbal's Fouad Saniora, Amin Gemayel, who heads the Phalange, and March 14 independent MP Butros Harb was held on Thursday night on the sidelines of a social event.

Speaker Nabih Berri said Saturday that a meeting he has held with al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader Fouad Saniora needs “follow up” after they did not reach consensus on an electoral draft-law.

The meeting was “honest and transparent, and needs follow up,” Berri told An Nahar newspaper.

The Central Security Council convened at the Serail of the northern city of Tripoli on Friday after the attack on Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami's convoy.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's office said Najib Miqati asked Interior Minister Marwan Charbel to chair the “emergency meeting to take the appropriate measures.”