Senior Hizbullah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq stressed on Saturday that the Saudi sanctions against Hizbullah have failed to weaken the party, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

Hizbullah has not expressed commitment so far to name al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri for the premiership and the formation of the new government, as speculations believe that it could be keeping it for the last minute, Ad-Diyar daily reported on Saturday.

The daily quoted Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who had urged for a comprehensive agreement and said: “Let a comprehensive agreement with regard to the presidency, premier and the formation of a government be reached.” But the truth is that no one in Hizbullah has named Hariri so far, added Ad-Diyar.

Some serious efforts are underway to convince Marada chief MP Suleiman Franjieh to withdraw his nomination from the presidential race, al-Akhbar daily reported on Saturday.

The daily said that some “unnamed” parties are “testing the waters” and coordinating efforts with the Free Patriotic Movement, of presidential hopeful MP Michel Aoun, to find a way to make Franjieh withdraw his candidacy before Monday's election session.

Lebanon's parliament is set to end more than two years of stalemate on Monday by electing ex-general Michel Aoun as president, but the vote is unlikely to heal deep political divisions.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri announced Friday that the election of a new Lebanese president on Monday will be “a victory for Saudi Arabia and all Arabs,” while admitting that the formation of the new government will be “difficult.”

Free Patriotic Movement founder and leading presidential candidate MP Michel Aoun met Friday evening in Beirut with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat held talks Friday evening in Ain el-Tineh with Speaker Nabih Berri, around an hour before an expected meeting between him and Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Friday voiced support for al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri's decision to endorse Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency, three days before a voting session that is expected to put Aoun in the Baabda Palace after more than two and half years of presidential void.

The Jamaa Islamiya announced Friday that its MP Imad al-Hout will cast a blank vote in Monday's presidential election session as Mustaqbal bloc MP Mohammed Kabbara of Tripoli expressed support for “ex-PM Saad Hariri's approach.”

Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan held talks Friday with several political leaders on the second day of an official visit to Lebanon.

Sabhan's talks involved meetings with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat, Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.