France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian urged Lebanese authorities to expedite the formation of the government as he defended the Lebanese’s right for peaceful demonstrations.

Political contacts between officials have reportedly turned to a halt mainly after the resignation of PM Saad Hariri, which came amid nationwide protests against the political class, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

Center House circles, close to Hariri, told the daily that contacts between officials were severed. They rejected reports that the resignation was infused by foreign pressures.

Mass anti-corruption demonstrations continued Wednesday in the northern city of Tripoli and the southern city of Sidon, hours after blocked roads were re-opened across Lebanon in the wake of the government’s resignation.

Some protesters in Tripoli’s al-Nour Square called for the fall of the president, the parliament speaker and the members of parliament. MTV meanwhile said that some roads will be blocked at night in the city.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday announced that the 2016 political settlement that led to the election of President Michel Aoun “has definitely fallen,” as he noted that caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri is the LF’s “first choice” for heading a new “non-political” government.

“What’s needed is a salvation government that would be free of the traditional faces who have served in successive governments since years -- a government that truly comprises independent men,” Geagea said in an interview with the Central News Agency.

The Delegation of the European Union and the EU Heads of Mission in Lebanon on Wednesday called for a speedy government formation process in the wake of Saad Hariri’s resignation.

In a statement, they acknowledged that “Lebanon's citizens have taken to the streets and expressed their disillusionment with the political situation in the country.”

Education Minister Akram Shehayyeb on Wednesday called on all public and private schools, universities and institutes to resume classes on Thursday.

In a statement, the minister said the decision was taken “following the Lebanese Army’s move to reopen roads in the various Lebanese regions, and after holding consultations with the various sectors and the meeting that was held at the ministry today, Wednesday with the associations of public school teachers.”

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday announced that Lebanon will have a “clean government,” a day after Saad Hariri bowed to unprecedented anti-graft street protests and submitted his government’s resignation.

“Lebanon will have a clean government and the protests that happened have opened the door to major reform,” Aoun told a delegation from the Maronite League during a meeting in Baabda.

The resignation of Lebanon's government under pressure from the street looked set to ease a two-week-old nationwide lockdown but protesters vowed they would keep pushing for deeper change.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday has requested that now-resigned government of PM Saad Hariri to continue in a caretaker capacity until the formation of a new government, the Directorate-General of the Presidency said on Wednesday.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iraqis and Lebanese on Wednesday to seek their demands within the framework of the law after waves of protests rocked the two countries.