Prime Minister Tammam Salam has said that he was procrastinating in calling for a cabinet session this week over a dispute on the appointment of high-ranking officials while stressing that he has the jurisdiction is setting the agenda.

In remarks to local newspapers published on Monday, Salam said he decided to procrastinate on inviting cabinet ministers for a session on the basis that such a move, in addition to setting the agenda, fall under the powers granted to the premier.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat pledged Sunday to exert efforts to preserve stability in the country in coordination with Speaker Nabih Berri.

"I discussed with Berri the importance of some projects and we will try together, the same as we did in the past, to overcome political obstacles and consolidate stability,” said Jumblat after talks with Berri in Ain al-Tineh.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat called on Monday for an end to the various crises that have been crippling Lebanon's political and daily life, demanding that a solution be reached on security appointments and the vacuum in the presidency.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “Consensus must be reached on a complete package of appointments.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has called for preserving internal stability as the Islamic State extremist group continued to make more gains inside Syria.

The western city of Palmyra, home to a set of historic Roman-era ruins, was captured by the IS last week.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Thursday the sentence issued by the military court against former Minister Michel Samaha.

“The court's verdict in Samaha's case legalizes assassinations and explosions,” he said in a statement.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour called on the political arch-foes to tackle the appointment of new top-ranking security officials with reason, urging them to safeguard the state institutions.

“It's illogical that the military institutions and security agencies are undergoing such a political debate,” Abou Faour told reporters on Monday after talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat dismissed claims on Thursday that former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's Feb. 14, 2005 assassination was linked to rampant corruption in Lebanon or a rising Saudi influence in the country.

“Hariri was killed for political reasons,” Jumblat told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon during the Defense Counsel's cross-examination.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat recounted on Wednesday how the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad used its allies in Lebanon to limit the powers of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his supporters.

“Hariri was working on expanding the opposition on the unconstitutional extension” of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term in 2004, Jumblat told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on the third day of his testimony.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat said on Tuesday that the Syrian regime took the failure to abolish political confessionalism in Lebanon as an excuse to remain in the country, adding the bombing that targeted MP Marwan Hamadeh was the first warning to ex-PM Rafik Hariri.

“The Taef Accord had called for abolishing the political sectarian system but this has not been achieved,” Jumblat told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on the second day of his testimony.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat began on Monday his testimony at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that is examining the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by recounting the nature of the ties between Lebanon and Syria, particularly with the ruling Assad family.

He told the trial chamber: “Bashar Assad showed hostility towards Rafik Hariri before he was elected president.”