Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh, amid fears of a possible collapse of Premier Najib Miqati’s government.

Jumblat told Al-Manar television that “the government’s survival is essential,” stressing that “no one has an interest in possible political vacuum in the country.”

Sources close to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said the Druze chief’s stance from the government crisis is linked to the decision that Premier Najib Miqati would take if the March 8 ministers reject to fund the international tribunal.

Sources close to Jumblat told As Safir daily on Tuesday that the PSP chief rejects the collapse of the government. “The country cannot bear” crises anymore, they said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hoped on Monday that the concerned Lebanese forces would approve the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon for the sake of the country’s higher interest and in order to avoid economic sanctions and internal tensions.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “All sides are better off revising the current sensitive phase in Lebanon and the region in order for them to avoid becoming captive of their escalatory positions on complex issues of contention.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has described the situation in Lebanon and the crisis on the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as an “open bazaar over strange things.”

When asked by As Safir daily to comment about the situation, Jumblat, who is currently in Brussels, said he prefers to stay away from Lebanese politics and its “absurdities.”

Premier Najib Miqati told the cabinet on Wednesday that he expects the government to discuss the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon next week and hoped that each party would assume its responsibility towards the controversial issue.

An Nahar daily said Thursday that several cabinet ministers inquired Miqati about reports that he intended to resign if the cabinet failed to pay its 49 percent share to the STL - $33 million this year.

National Struggle Front ministers will resign from the cabinet if the government refused to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a minister from the bloc told An Nahar daily.

“Whether (Prime Minister Najib) Miqati resigned or not, the National Struggle Front ministers will resign from the cabinet if the funding of the STL wasn’t approved,” the minister, who is loyal to National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblat, told the daily.

National Struggle Front parliamentary bloc wondered if the cabinet will commit to its ministerial statement concerning the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, stressing that the government has to safeguard the country and avoid any negative repercussions amid the developments in the region.

Sources told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Wednesday that ministers loyal to National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblat stress that the cabinet is obliged to fund the tribunal; especially that President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati continuously voiced their commitment to the STL.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat voiced on Monday his support of the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, adding that the party understands Hizbullah’s insecurities over the matter.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “Keeping in mind its reservations, Hizbullah should cooperate positively with the issue of the funding in order to ease the tensions on the internal Lebanese scene.”

Premier Najib Miqati is facing decisive 9 days during which he has to work hard to urge the cabinet into approving the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Miqati’s visitors quoted the prime minister as saying over the weekend that the cabinet should take the decision on the funding. “The time that we tried to gain is over.”

The Progressive Socialist Party will hold a rally on December 4 on the occasion of the birthday of its slain leader Kamal Jumblat, An Nahar daily reported Sunday.

The newspaper said that the rally will be held in Mukhtara, two days before Jumblat’s birthday on December 6, 1917. He was assassinated on March 16, 1977.