The Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Major General Luciano Portolano held talks on Thursday with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and the Army Commander, General Jean Qahwaji, said UNIFIL in a statement.

Portolano briefed the speaker on the situation along the Blue Line and UNIFIL’s engagement with the people of South Lebanon in efforts, together with Lebanese army, to maintain security and stability in the area within the framework of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated his demand for the adoption of a new electoral law ahead of staging the parliamentary polls, reported An Nahar daily on Wednesday.

He said according to his visitors: “The parliamentary elections can be held in wake of the success of the municipal ones.”

Speaker Nabih Berri received on Tuesday a message from French President Francois Hollande, who expressed his country's keenness on resolving Lebanon's presidential deadlock.

He said: “We are working on ending the impasse.”

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Monday the need to resolve the dispute over the parliamentary electoral law, while underlining that legislative sessions can be held irrespective of the developments in the country.

He said during a press conference: “Parliament is entitled to hold a legislative session regardless of the conditions in the country.”

Speaker Nabih Berri is still awaiting a response from the political powers regarding his proposal to hold a legislative session, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper.

He said, according to his visitors on Friday: “The ball is now in the court of the political forces.”

Speaker Nabih Berri presided on Wednesday over a national dialogue session that focused on efforts to revive the work of parliament and the “legislation of necessity.”

He proposed before the gatherers a solution to end the deadlock and he will wait until the end of the week before taking steps linked to the “legislation of necessity,” MP Ali Fayyad told reporters from Ain el-Tineh.

Speaker Nabih Berri requested during his meeting with French President Francois Hollande on Saturday France's assistance in demarcating Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Mediterranean that borders with Israel, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.

A parliamentary source revealed that “this is a problem that Israel is creating and it may spark a war.”

Speaker Nabih Berri announced on Wednesday that he will hold a legislative session after April 20.

He said during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at his Ain el-Tineh residence that the session will be held after national dialogue talks on that same day.

Speaker Nabih Berri rejected claims that there are plans to naturalize refugees in Lebanon, saying that these concerns have been “exaggerated”, reported As Safir newspaper on Monday.

He told the daily that there are no factors on the ground that indicate that refugees will be naturalized, adding that this issue is being exploited for presidential elections purposes.

Speaker Nabih Berri had voiced concerns to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that Lebanese officials may no longer be able to reach an “internal solution” to the deadlock over the presidential elections, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Monday.

He encouraged Ban to seek dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran, “because an agreement between them may raise hope that an agreement may be reached over a president for Lebanon.”