Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kanaan stated on Tuesday that an agreement on a parliamentary electoral law is the first step towards staging the elections.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “MPs who are keen on Lebanon should head to parliament to agree on a new electoral law.”

Phalange MP Sami Gemayel has described centrist Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat as the “key” to a deal among rival blocs on an electoral draft-law.

Gemayel told al-Liwaa daily in an interview published Tuesday that consultations on a vote law among the March 14 alliance leaders haven't stopped.

Sharp differences between the Progressive Socialist Party and the Free Patriotic Movement surfaced on Tuesday over the energy and telecommunication portfolios despite the failure of the rival parties to agree on the nature of the new cabinet and the name of the PM-designate.

According to As Safir newspaper, PSP chief MP Walid Jumblat rejects handing over to the FPM the same shares that it had in the resigned government.

The opposition al-Mustaqbal bloc and the centrist National Struggle Front have agreed to throw their weight behind the person that ex-Premier Saad Hariri will name to lead the new government, a report said Tuesday.

Caretaker Minister Wael Abu Faour, who is close to National Struggle Front chief MP Walid Jumblat, held talks with Hariri in Riyadh and returned to Beirut late Monday.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour is expected to hold talks with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader former Prime Minister Saad Hariri as part of consultations over the formation of the new cabinet.

Sources told the pan-Arab daily al—Hayat on Monday that Abou Faour, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, will meet with Hariri on the name of the PM-designate.

Consultations over the formation of the cabinet are ongoing as the March 8 and 14 alliances are still mulling the possibility of designating Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati to form the government that will oversee the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Sources said in comments published in Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper on Monday that the March 14 opposition are keen to prevent the March 8 majority alliance led by Hizbullah from claiming the majority by luring Miqati and centrist Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to its coalition.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and the members of his National Struggle Front parliamentary bloc will submit their candidacies for the parliamentary elections to the interior ministry on Tuesday, according to media reports.

MTV quoted PSP's secretary general Zafer Nasser as saying that “the party's MPs will file their nominations after the (Easter) holiday to reject the postponement of elections and the extension of parliament's mandate.”

The army has deployed heavily in the Chouf town of Baqaata after clashes between Progressive Socialist Party and Arab Tawhid Party supporters left one dead and two people wounded on Saturday.

Jad al-Beaini died from injuries he sustained during Saturday's clash, reported LBCI television.

Centrist Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat rejected on Friday to eliminate any Lebanese party from consultations on the formation of the new cabinet, expressing pessimism over the situation in the country after Prime Minister Najib Miqati announced his resignation.

“I refuse to exclude anyone... The situation is critical,” Jumblat said in an interview published in al-Akhabr newspaper.

Head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc ex-PM Fouad Saniora will head a delegation to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with former PM Saad Hariri to brief him on the ongoing consultations among the parties affiliated in March 14 alliance.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Friday, Saniora and the accompanying delegation will discuss with Hariri, who is currently in Riyadh, the formation of the cabinet, the new electoral law and the critical situation the country is passing through.