Caretaker Health Minister and aide to Speaker Nabih Berri, Ali Hassan Khalil, stressed on Tuesday the strength of the ties between the speaker and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, as a March 8 delegation met PM-designate Tammam Salam in Mousaitbeh.

He said after talks with the lawmaker: “We are in agreement with Franjieh over a government that reflects the will of the March 8 camp.”

Speaker Nabih Berri slammed on Tuesday Lebanese officials for seeking to adopt an electoral law that help them achieve the parliamentary majority, pointing out that the cabinet could be formed ahead of a parliamentary session set to be held on May 15.

Berri said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that his hybrid electoral law proposal calls for electing half of the lawmakers in the new parliament based on the winner-takes-all system, with the other half elected under the proportional representation system and 26 districts.

British Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt on Monday called on the Lebanese to refrain from sending fighters to war-torn Syria, reiterating “the importance of international community support to Lebanon's disassociation policy.”

“As I discussed with Speaker (Nabih) Berri, President (Michel) Suleiman and the Army Commander (General Jean Qahwaji) today, I am pleased that we are, together, building Lebanon’s capacity to protect its sovereignty,” Burt said after talks with Berri in Ain al-Tineh.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly encouraged on Monday political officials in Lebanon to form a new government and reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law.

He said: “I said last week that time is short and obviously now it is shorter still.”

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali slammed on Monday claims that Hizbullah is sending fighters to Syria.

He deemed as a “myth” such allegations, accusing the media of distorting the facts in this issue.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Monday that he will not call for a parliamentary session ahead of May 15 to discuss the electoral law, pointing out that lawmakers will have to act responsibly.

“I advise different groups not to waste their time... I will not call for a session to end the dispute over the electoral law ahead of the one set on May 15,” Berri told several newspapers published Monday.

A delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party informed Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday that a vote law proposal he had made does not guarantee the best representation for all the Lebanese.

“We can't guarantee through Berri's proposal the best representation for all the Lebanese,” said caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour who visited the speaker in Ain el-Tineh at the head of the PSP delegation.

Efforts to extend the term of the current parliament are beginning to emerge, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Informed political sources told the daily that Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat are leading these attempts in order to avoid a political vacuum in Lebanon given the failure to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law.

Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat have discussed the division of districts in a hybrid electoral law to avoid a clash in parliament at a session scheduled to be held on May 15, reports said Saturday.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour, who is loyal to Jumblat, told As Safir daily that the meeting that was held in Ain el-Tineh “focused on ideas” linked to the hybrid proposal that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam has completed his separate talks with the parliamentary blocs of the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance but is waiting for their united stance on an offer to form a government in which the coalition would get seven ministers.

Local dailies said Saturday that the last meeting Salam held the day before was with Tashnag party MP Hagop Pakradounian.