The top three parties of the March 8 majority alliance have “totally rejected” holding the parliamentary polls next year based on the winner-takes-all system of the 1960 electoral law, As Safir daily reported on Monday.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying that a meeting was held between the Hizbullah leader's aide, Hussein Khalil, the assistant of Speaker Nabih Berri, Ali Hassan Khalil, Minister Jebran Bassil, who is a member of the Free Patriotic Movement, and Amal movement's security official Ahmed al-Baalbaki.

March 14 MP Marwan Hamadeh announced that officials from the camp are set to meet again in order to discuss the recent consultations held with Speaker Nabih Berri aimed at revitalizing parliament activity, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday.

He told the daily that the heads of parliamentary committees and members of the parliament bureau will meet for a second time to take a united stand on the resumption of parliamentary work.

Dozens of protesters from the youth organizations of the March 14 forces on Sunday staged a sit-in outside the Grand Serail at the Riad al-Solh square in downtown Beirut, demanding the departure of the government and stressing that they will press on with their “confrontation.”

In a symbolic gesture, demonstrators assembled a giant-sized puzzle with the flag of the Independence Uprising on one side and the picture of slain Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan on the other.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat described on Friday a decision to postpone parliamentary sessions as “excellent.”

“All efforts should be exerted to safeguard Lebanon,” Jumblat said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

The joint parliamentary committees will not convene on Wednesday in light of the March 14 alliance's decision to boycott parliamentary work unless the cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Miqati resigns, the An Nahar daily said Tuesday.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari announced that the boycott of the committees' sessions will continue “as long as the alliance holds on to its stance,” said the daily.

MP Marwan Hamadeh on Thursday stressed to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius “the need to respect the Baabda Declaration and facilitate President Michel Suleiman's mission to form a new neutral government that would prevent the sliding of the country towards further threats.”

During a meeting in Paris, Hamadeh and Fabius discussed “the situation in Lebanon in light of the latest developments, especially the assassination of Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan and the political and security repercussions that ensued,” according to a statement issued by the MP.

The different factions of the March 14 opposition alliance held a series of meetings on Monday to join forces in proposing a draft-electoral law that satisfies all parties, An Nahar daily reported.

The newspaper said that al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora discussed with several other opposition leaders the electoral law.

The joint parliamentary committees convened on Wednesday to tackle the government-approved electoral law.

Media reports said however that the session was later suspended over a lack of quorum when opposition MPs withdrew from the meeting.

The March 14 alliance is preparing a memorandum to hand over to President Michel Suleiman over Syria’s repeated violations against Lebanon, An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.

According to the daily, the memo will address the case of ex-Minister Michel Samaha, who was accused along with head of the Syrian National Security Bureau Ali Mamlouk and a Syrian officer identified as Brig. Gen. Adnan of plotting to assassinate political and religious figures in Lebanon and carry out terrorist attacks.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that he will study an official request to strip MP Moeen al-Merehbi of his parliamentary immunity as the March 14 opposition alliance lashed out at Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi threatening to resort to article 39 of constitution.

“I will study the matter before sending the request to the parliament's bureau and the administrative committee,” Berri told An Nahar newspaper on Friday.