Speaker Nabih Berri praised a cabinet decision calling on the electorate to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for November, as Prime Minister Tammam Salam said his government's move was aimed at sending a message that it was ready to hold the polls.

The cabinet “decree is a first step towards holding the parliamentary elections,” Berri was quoted as saying by several local newspapers that were published on Wednesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that a decision by Education Minister Elias Bou Saab to issue passing certificates for Grade 9 and 12 students needed parliament's approval and stressed that the wage scale draft-law would top the agenda of the legislature.

“We cannot overrun the scale. It will remain the first item (on parliament’s agenda) whether it was approved or not,” Berri said in remarks published in local dailies on Monday.

Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that it was up to Christian leaders to agree to resolve the presidential deadlock, saying 87% of Muslim lawmakers were attending parliamentary sessions.

Berri denied that holding the presidential elections needed a Sunni-Shiite dialogue, saying “the problem is not with Muslims.”

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab issued passing statements to all Grade 12 and 9 and the technical schools students, who underwent official exams, after the Syndicate Coordination Committee rejected to budge an inch on the correction of the exams.

“Those who rejected granting students passing certificates should have thought about their best interest,” Bou Saab said during a press conference at the Ministry of Education.

Speaker Nabih Berri has reportedly agreed with al-Mustaqbal Chief and former Premier MP Saad Hariri on the importance of extending the term of the parliament amid the ongoing presidential vacuum.

Ministerial sources close to the March 8 alliance told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, published on Saturday, that the two officials are seeking to justify the extension of the parliament's term by resolving several lingering crises.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that his rejection to extend parliament's term should be used as a “pressure card” to speed up the election of a new president.

Local dailies on Wednesday quoted Berri as saying that the vacuum at Baabda Palace would remain if the legislature's term was extended for the second time.

Speaker Nabih Berri adjourned on Tuesday the parliamentary session aimed at electing a president to September 2 over lack of quorum caused by boycotting blocs.

The tenth round that was scheduled to take place on Tuesday met the fate of its predecessors after only around 55 MPs attended the session.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam revealed on Tuesday that he recently contacted Qatari and Turkish authorities to help Lebanon guarantee the safe release of the security personnel taken hostage by Islamist gunmen in the northeastern town of Arsal.

“Speaker Nabih Berri and I seem to have confluence on contacting Qatari and Turkish authorities to help the government ensure the safe release of the troops,” Salam said in comments published in As Safir newspaper on Tuesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri rejected any negotiation with the jihadists who took more than 35 soldiers and policemen captive in the northeastern town of Arsal last week.

In remarks to As Safir newspaper published on Monday, Berri said: “Had Prime Minister Tammam Salam asked for my advice, I would have told him to resort to Qatar and Turkey to resolve this issue.”

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat said on Sunday that it was a shame for the Lebanese not to be able to elect a new president, calling for another extension of parliament's term.

“It is a shame that we the politicians failed to elect a president,” Jumblat said during a visit to several towns in Aley.