Prime Minister Tammam Salam vowed on Monday not to give up his responsibilities despite anti-government protests that have been shaking the country in the past two weeks.

Salam told the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper that he was not surprised by the demonstrations held against the backdrop of a waste crisis that erupted following the closure of the Naameh landfill, south of Beirut, last month.

Lebanese leaders have welcomed Speaker Nabih Berri's initiative for dialogue to resolve the presidential crisis and other political problems that are threatening to create chaos in Lebanon.

Sources close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam told al-Joumhouria daily published on Monday that he welcomes any initiative which takes the country out of paralysis.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri welcomed Sunday Speaker Nabih Berri's decision to call for a dialogue conference in September, while stressing that the priority is for resolving the presidential deadlock.

“We will surely react positively when we receive the invitation. Agreeing on resolving the problem of the presidency would be the proper opening to discuss the other issues,” Hariri tweeted.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed Sunday that he intends to call for a dialogue conference in September, as he urged anti-corruption protesters to demand a “civil state” and a new electoral law based on the proportional representation system.

“In the first third of September, I will call for a dialogue limited to (Prime Minister) Tammam Salam and the heads of parliamentary blocs,” said Berri in Nabatiyeh, where he delivered a speech marking the 37th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr, the founder of the AMAL Movement which Berri currently heads.

A Hizbullah lawmaker on Sunday denied accusations that his party or the Free Patriotic Movement are seeking “total vacuum” in the country, voicing conditional support for the growing anti-corruption protest movement.

“Accusations by some parties that Hizbullah and the FPM are seeking total vacuum and a constituent assembly are baseless,” MP Hussein al-Moussawi of the Loyalty to Resistance bloc said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat acknowledged on Sunday the “rightful” demands of the “You Stink” civil society campaign, warning against the manipulation of the movement.

He remarked via Twitter: “The activists should be cautious of attempts to politically manipulate and hinder their movement.”

Security forces announced on Sunday that ten people were arrested following Saturday's civil society protest that took a violent turn as night set in.

The Internal Security Forces said that investigations are underway with the detainees in connection with the rioting that erupted at the end of the peaceful rally.

Government officials are carrying out the necessary preparations for Prime Minister Tammam Salam's upcoming trip to the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly set for September, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday.

The officials are holding the necessary contacts with Lebanon's permanent Ambassador to the U.N. Nawwaf Salam.

The Mustaqbal Movement praised the “You Stink” civil society campaign protest that was staged on Saturday, blaming the current situation in Lebanon on the failure to elect a new president, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday.

It called in a statement on “political powers to listen carefully to the demands of the youth and immediately elect a president.”

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched on Saturday from the interior ministry in the capital's Hamra thoroughfare to downtown Beirut's Martyrs Square in an anti-government protest organized by civil society, which is frustrated with the political class.

"You Stink,” which started as an online movement, is the main activist group behind the protest.