Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Thursday lashed out anew at PM-designate Saad Hariri, blaming him for the delay in forming a new government.

“Today it became evident to the naked eye that PM-designate Saad Hariri is not ready to form the government for known external reasons, which we had refrained from mentioning previously in order to give extra chances,” Bassil said in a statement released by his press office.

Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab held phone talks Thursday with Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat following a clash between supporters of their two parties in the Chouf town of Kfarhim.

Wahhab and Jumblat “stressed that the Lebanese Army should be fully in charge of addressing the Kfarhim incident,” emphasizing that “the security of Mt. Lebanon and its residents is a red line,” a statement issued by the Tawhid Party said.

Press office of PM-designate Saad Hariri on Thursday denied reports published in al-Akhbar daily that he rejected a proposal presented by President Michel Aoun regarding the government formation.

The anger of the Lebanese grew on Wednesday, on the second day after the unprecedented collapse of the Lebanese pound’s value as the dollar exchange rate hit 10,000 pounds.

Protests against the worsening living crisis spread to several Lebanese regions. Roads were blocked with barrels and burning tires in the north, south and Bekaa region.

Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat criticized Lebanon’s political parties on Thursday, mainly the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Jebran Bassil describing him as a “situation of absurdity.”

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri left Beirut this afternoon heading to the United Arab Emirates, his press office said.

Bickering between Lebanon's political rivals has left the country in a stalemate for months, only worsening the economic disaster sparked by a debt crisis and sovereign default last year.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday reiterated his call for early parliamentary elections as a way out of Lebanon’s compounded crises.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Wednesday categorically denied media reports linking banks to a dramatic surge in the dollar exchange rate on the black market.

“The requirements of banking liquidity abroad, as stipulated by the central bank according to Circular 154, exceed $3.4 billion sector-wide, so is it reasonable for banks to draw them from the local black market whose volume does not exceed a few million dollars?” ABL said in a statement.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday described the protests that engulfed all Lebanese regions on Tuesday as legitimate, as he asked Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to explain why the Lebanese pound has hit an all-time low against the dollar.

“The president of the republic, General Michel Aoun, has been following with great concern the protests that have been rocking some Lebanese regions since yesterday evening, after the U.S. dollar exchange rate reached LBP 10,000,” the Presidency said in a statement.

The United States seeks to provide help for the Lebanese people to address the dire difficult conditions, the US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea said on Wednesday.