Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday said that the FPM will launch a "complete" political initiative within two weeks.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday lamented that “arrogance is preventing politicians from coming together and holding dialogue to exit the presidential election crisis.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Saturday lamented that “all political indications confirm the presence of a plot against Lebanon aimed at causing presidential vacuum accompanied by a constitutional vacuum, which is more and more complicating the election of a president.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil met Friday evening with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, following political clashes and a lengthy break in ties between the two parties.

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani on Friday met in Beirut with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

In his talks with Mikati, Tajani demonstrated the relations between Lebanon and Italy on the various levels, the situation in Lebanon, and the ongoing failure to elect a new president, state-run National News Agency said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has decried what he described as “political blackmail” and “presidential blackmail” in the current controversy related to the army’s Military Council.

“The Defense Minister is making an excuse that extending the term of the incumbent Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amin al-Orm would not be legal, although the term of former Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Walid Salman had been extended,” Jumblat said in an interview with Annahar newspaper.

The Internal Security Forces on Thursday denied claims by MP Paula Yacoubian alleging that the newly-formed hardline Christian group Soldiers of God had intervened following an alleged robbery in Ashrafieh.

In a video circulated on social media, Yacoubian had said that a woman in Ashrafieh had called the relevant police station to report a robbery, after which young men from the Soldiers of God group arrived and told her that they had been "informed by the police station" about the incident.

Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said Thursday that Lebanon can not bear a presidential vacuum and that the league is willing to play its role in a Lebanese dialogue.

During the Arab Economic Forum in Beirut, Abul Gheit considered that the way to recovery is by electing a new president and making reforms, urging parties to rise above the divisions and to prioritize Lebanon's interests.

The Judicial Council on Thursday dismissed the electoral appeals filed by Jad Ghosn in Northern Metn and Haidar Issa in Akkar.

The rulings mean that MP Ahmed Rustom of Akkar and MPs Razi al-Hajj and Hagop Pakradounian of Northern Metn will keep their parliamentary seats.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that sweeping reforms remain vital to rescue the stricken economy, despite a return to modest growth this year.

Mikati said the economy had grown by nearly two percent in 2022 after two straight years of severe recession that saw Gross Domestic Product fall by 25.9 percent in 2020 and by 10.5 percent in 2021, according to World Bank figures.