MP Ibrahim Kanaan has reportedly agreed with Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi and General Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud to suspend the summonses issued against several young men who have burned the Islamic State group's flag in Beirut.

Rifi had asked Hammoud to investigate the case when a video showing several men burning the IS flag in Ashrafieh's Sassine square was circulated on social media.

Speaker Nabih Berri has stayed mum on efforts he is exerting along with Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat to resolve the presidential deadlock.

Local newspapers quoted Berri as saying on Monday that he “cannot talk about any possible progress to guarantee the success of the work we are doing.”

Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan snapped back at critics on Friday, claiming a proposal for direct presidential elections is constitutional and aimed at boosting the role of Christians in governance.

“The problem in the election of the president is not in the lack of quorum but the unconstitutional practice of politics,” said Kanaan during a press conference he held at parliament to brief reporters on a draft-law that his bloc proposed on Thursday.

Change and Reform bloc lawmakers proposed on Thursday a draft-law for a constitutional amendment to have direct presidential elections in Lebanon.

Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said MP Ibrahim Kanaan, who proposed the draft-law on behalf of the bloc's members, is scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday to inform the public opinion about it.

The Change and Reform bloc lamented on Tuesday the state of affairs in Lebanon, condemning the ongoing vacuum in the presidency.

MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the bloc's weekly meeting: “The vacuum is a product of deliberate neglect and the solution lies in returning to the constitution.”

Resolving the dispute over raising the Value Added Tax is among the main obstacles that may hinder the approval of the new wage scale during a legislative session scheduled for Thursday.

Given the lingering differences, the session may not even be attended by the Mustaqbal bloc, which may lead to a lack of quorum at parliament.

The dispute on the wage scale for the public sector has made some breakthrough after talks between the finance minister and al-Mustaqbal bloc's leader but differences between the parliamentary blocs remained on the funding.

An Nahar newspaper said on Wednesday that al-Mustaqbal bloc chief MP Fouad Saniora held talks with the representatives of the March 14 alliance to discuss the pay raise.

A ministerial-parliamentary committee, which has amended a controversial wage hike draft-law for the public sector, is holding meetings away from the media spotlight to reach a formula that is acceptable by all sides, MP Jamal al-Jarrah said.

Al-Jarrah, who is a member of the committee, told al-Liwaa newspaper published on Wednesday that the meetings are aimed at bridging the gap between the different parties involved in the wage scale crisis ahead of a parliamentary session scheduled to discuss the draft-law on June 10.

The Change and Reform bloc of MP Michel Aoun announced on Tuesday its rejection of any extension of President Michel Suleiman's term, saying that it would be fatal to democracy in Lebanon.

MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the bloc's weekly meeting: “We will appeal such a decision and follow through with it to the end.”

Change and Reform MP Ibrahim Kanaan demanded on Thursday a parliamentary session to grant Civil Defense volunteers full-time employment, considering that any attempt to block the matter “will not pass.”

“Next week will be a landmark concerning the credibility of all parliamentary blocs regarding the Civil Defense demands,” Kanaan said during a press conference from the parliament.