Speaker Nabih Berri has slammed the officials criticizing a possible extension of the term of Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, rejecting calls for the appointment of a new military commander before the expiry of his tenure.

The term of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous was extended for two years last week to safeguard its leadership, Berri told his visitors in remarks published in al-Joumhouria on Friday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed Thursday that the cabinet is the sole authority concerned with the appointment of civil servants.

Jumblat criticized some journalists without naming them, considering they have “a wide imagination.”

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji warned Thursday that the paralysis of the cabinet harms the country's security as ministers should continue to endorse decisions to fortify the situation in Lebanon.

Qahwaji's remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Wednesday.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said that the dialogue between his party and the Free Patriotic Movement should have started a long time ago.

“But it's better late than never,” Geagea said in an interview to be published on Thursday, according to his press office.

Former President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday severely criticized the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah without naming them for seeking to “paralyze” the cabinet and dragging the war in neighboring Syria to Lebanon.

“It is not acceptable to impose conditions on the cabinet,” Suleiman said following talks with a delegation from al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc at his residence in Yarze.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab denied Tuesday that the Free Patriotic Movement is targeting the jurisdictions of Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

“The dispute is not over the jurisdictions of the premier and we will not begin to target them,” Bou Saab said in comments published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has advised Christian parties not to waste historic opportunities and to agree on a consensual candidate other than Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are in a dispute over the situation in Yemen, so there won't be any mediator to help Lebanese MPs elect a new president, Jumblat said in remarks published on Tuesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri tenaciously rejected the paralysis of the cabinet as the Free Patriotic Movement refuses to budge an inch on its stance regarding the importance of conducting the appointments of civil servants before tackling any other state matter, al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported Tuesday.

“A couple of ministers have no right to obstruct the work of the government,” Berri said after talks with a delegation from al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Monday.

The Kataeb Party on Monday criticized Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun without naming him, questioning the “timing” of his latest threats to resort to street action.

“Amid the renewal of the visits of envoys to Lebanon and some regional capitals with the aim of helping Lebanon rescue itself from the presidential void, some parties are continuing their obstruction,” said the party in a statement issued after its politburo's weekly meeting.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has called on Lebanon's rival parties to prevent their “absurd” differences from paralyzing the state, As Safir daily reported on Monday.

Jumblat, who visited Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh on Sunday, told As Safir that the dispute among the different parties, which is obstructing the work of constitutional institutions, is “minor and silly” and should not paralyze the entire country.