Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has reportedly claimed that Prime Minister Tammam Salam's government would practice the power of the president in case of a vacuum at Baabda Palace.

Pan-Arab daily al-Hahat quoted him as saying on Wednesday that there would be no vacuum given that Salam's cabinet is capable of taking over the president's authorities if lawmakers failed to elect a new head of state.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc urged the March 8 camp to announce its candidate for the presidency so that he competes in the third round of the elections on Wednesday.

The bloc, which held its weekly meeting under MP Fouad Saniora on Tuesday, stressed that it “backed the candidacy of Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea in accordance with the agreement (reached) in the March 14 alliance and called on March 8 to announce its candidate to hold competitive elections.”

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat has reportedly asked Christian political leaders to stop Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi from visiting the Holy Land despite the insistence of the cardinal that he was backing the Palestinian cause.

Al-Liwaa newspaper said Tuesday that Jumblat made the appeal during the national dialogue session that was chaired by President Michel Suleiman at Baabda Palace a day earlier.

Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel is expected on Monday to officially announce his candidacy for the presidency, al-Liwaa newspaper reported.

The daily said that the announcement would be made after the weekly meeting of the party's politburo at its headquarters in Saifi and following planned talks with Metn MP Michel al-Murr.

President Michel Suleiman is expected on Sunday to reiterate his warning from the dangers of a vacuum in the country's top Christian post and call on lawmakers to elect a new head of state before the end of his term this month.

An Nahar newspaper said that Suleiman's warning will come in a speech he will make on Sunday afternoon during the inauguration of the cite sportive in his hometown in Amsheet.

Speaker Nabih Berri said the first round of the presidential elections was a “rehearsal,” adding that the parliamentary session next week would be aimed at electing the new head of state.

In remarks to As Safir daily published on Friday, Berri said: “The real session next week won't be a session (aimed at knowing) the candidates.”

The relations between Hizbullah and President Michel Suleiman are merely diplomatic and standard after ties witnessed deterioration over the Baabda Declaration and the people-army-resistance formula, the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Sunday.

Sources close to Hizbullah said that the party's stance from Hizbullah is “final and clear.”

President Michel Suleiman and PM Tammam Salam hailed on Thursday the security plans implemented in the northern city of Tripoli and the eastern Bekaa Valley, and agreed to intensify security measures mainly near places of worship during the holidays, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Suleiman held a security meeting at the Baabda Presidential Palace in the presence of Salam, Minister of Defense Salim Moqbel, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq in addition to several security and military chiefs.

President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday called on all parties to guarantee the appropriate atmosphere to avoid vacuum as parliament is expected to convene next week to elect a new head of state.

During a cabinet session held at Baabda Palace, Suleiman said: “Vacuum is unacceptable. Laws haven't been put in place so that we fall in vacuum.”

The Lebanese army on Monday arrested two suspects and seized weapons during raids in several neighborhoods of the northern city of Tripoli as part of a security plan aimed at bringing stability to the country.

The military said in a communique that soldiers raided two arms depot in the impoverished neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and the area of al-Baraniyeh.