A session to elect a president was postponed again after the needed quorum at parliament was not met.

Speaker Nabih Berri scheduled the next session for September 30.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday the importance of dialogue to resolve pending disputes in Lebanon, saying that the presidential elections and a parliamentary electoral law are the primary issues that need to be discussed.

On his call for dialogue, he said: “It is a real chance to 'Lebanonize' internal affairs, especially the presidency.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has set September 9 as the date for the first dialogue session that will bring together Prime Minister Tammam Salam and the heads of parliamentary blocs.

Earlier, al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Tuesday that Salam has urged Berri to bring the date of the national dialogue forward over fears of a prolonged cabinet paralysis.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat welcomed Monday Speaker Nabih Berri's call for dialogue while stressing that the talks should explore means to activate the government's work and meet the demands of the growing protest movement.

“We welcome this dialogue, which remains the only way to achieve accord among the Lebanese and to overcome the difficult challenges that Lebanon and the region are going through,” said Jumblat in his weekly editorial in the PSP's al-Anbaa newspaper.

Lebanese leaders have welcomed Speaker Nabih Berri's initiative for dialogue to resolve the presidential crisis and other political problems that are threatening to create chaos in Lebanon.

Sources close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam told al-Joumhouria daily published on Monday that he welcomes any initiative which takes the country out of paralysis.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri welcomed Sunday Speaker Nabih Berri's decision to call for a dialogue conference in September, while stressing that the priority is for resolving the presidential deadlock.

“We will surely react positively when we receive the invitation. Agreeing on resolving the problem of the presidency would be the proper opening to discuss the other issues,” Hariri tweeted.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed Sunday that he intends to call for a dialogue conference in September, as he urged anti-corruption protesters to demand a “civil state” and a new electoral law based on the proportional representation system.

“In the first third of September, I will call for a dialogue limited to (Prime Minister) Tammam Salam and the heads of parliamentary blocs,” said Berri in Nabatiyeh, where he delivered a speech marking the 37th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr, the founder of the AMAL Movement which Berri currently heads.

Ministerial sources following up closely on the contacts between political factions said they are waiting for the initiative expected to be kicked off by Speaker Nabih Berri to hold consultations to bring the rival politicians on the dialogue table either in Ain el-Tineh or in parliament.

The Speaker is thoroughly studying the initiative and has not failed to test the waters, exploring the reactions in advance, the sources told al-Joumhouria daily on Saturday.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that he urged Prime Minister Tammam Salam to procrastinate in calling for a cabinet session to “give a chance for reconciliation” among the bickering parties.

Berri's press office said Thursday that he telephoned Salam asking him to wait before inviting the government to convene to give a chance to consultations after Free Patriotic Movement, Hizbullah, Marada Movement and Tashnag party ministers boycotted the session.

Speaker Nabih Berri has been holding contacts with Lebanese political parties to revive the all-party talks that he had launched in 2006, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

Berri has been holding consultations to bring the rival politicians on the dialogue table either in Ain el-Tineh or in parliament, the daily said.