Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said the extension of parliament’s mandate until June 2017 was aimed at preventing a change in the legislature's majority and revealed that dialogue with al-Mustaqbal movement on the presidential deadlock has stopped.

“The real reason behind the extension is to stop the current (parliamentary) majority from changing and consequently to control the presidential elections,” Aoun told As Safir newspaper in an interview published on Monday.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Saturday that the presidential deadlock should end swiftly after the parliament tenure extension became a de-facto.

“Now it's time for us to discuss the presidential elections,” Berri said in comments published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper.

The Free Patriotic Movement is preparing to challenge the extension of the parliament's mandate, which will come into force on Tuesday.

Sources close to FPM told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Saturday that the final challenge draft will be ready by Tuesday, when the draft-law will be published in the Official Gazette.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Friday criticized Lebanese politicians for “destroying” the country and slammed lawmakers for “protecting their seats” at the parliament.

At the end of his two-week pastoral visit to Australia, al-Rahi said: “Politicians destroy and we build no matter what.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the law on the extension of parliament's term until June 2017 will come into force despite the rejection of several cabinet ministers to endorse it, and stressed that the new electoral law should adhere to the Taef Accord.

Several local dailies on Friday quoted Berri as telling his visitors that the extension of the legislature's tenure will become a fait accompli next week when the law is published in the Official Gazette.

Lawmakers extended on Wednesday the mandate of the parliament until June 2017 amid a boycott by Christian MPs from the Free Patriotic Movement and the representatives of the Kataeb Party in the legislature.

FPM lawmakers from the Change and Reform bloc resorted to boycott while Marada Movement and Tashnag Party representatives in the bloc attended the session. But members of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh's bloc voted for the extension as Tashnag's two lawmakers voted against it.

Lebanese officials have welcomed Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech amid hopes that it would lead to dialogue among the country's rival parties.

“The country needs positive rhetoric more than any other time and this is what I saw in Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's” speech, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat told As Safir daily published on Tuesday.

The Vatican will dispatch a delegation to Beirut on a three-day visit, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper reported that the delegation will arrive in Lebanon on Thursday and will contact senior Lebanese officials.

The Lebanese army will be able to purchase French weapons under a $3 billion deal financed by Riyadh at the beginning of the year after Saudi and French officials ink the contract on Tuesday, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported.

According to the newspaper published on Monday, Saudi and French officials will sign the deal at the Royal Palace in Riyadh after an almost 11-month delay.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi warned lawmakers on Sunday from further violating the constitutions as Speaker Nabih Berri expressed surprise over the Patriarch's strong rhetoric over the possible extension of the parliament's tenure.

“Lawmakers should end the blatant violation of the constitution and the infringement of the national pact,” al-Rahi said during a sermon at saint Charbel's Parish in Sydney in Australia.