Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan said there was no excuse in delaying the formation of the cabinet, stressing that neither the international tribunal’s indictment nor the March 14 stance would be in favor of Lebanon.

“I am not convinced of statements that call for waiting for the development of the situation internally and abroad,” Arslan told As Safir daily in remarks published Monday.

Following the March 14 alliance’s official decision to become the country’s new opposition, Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati now faces the difficult task of meeting the demands of some members of the March 8 forces that brought him to power.

Miqati’s circles told An Nahar daily in remarks published Monday that the premier-designate will seek to form a mixed technocrat-politicians cabinet.

As expected, the March 14 forces on Sunday officially announced their refusal to take part in the country's new government.

The March 14 forces "reject to legitimize the coup … and reject to turn into observers who cannot prevent violations," the coalition said in a statement recited by ex-PM Fouad Saniora after an extraordinary meeting for its 60 MPs at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut.

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Sunday noted that he had mentioned the reasons behind his resignation in a letter he had submitted to Pope Benedict XVI, adding that the pope has accepted the resignation.

"The call for electing a new patriarch will be made very soon," Sfeir told reporters at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport upon his return from the Vatican.

Caretaker premier Saad Hariri on Sunday held phone talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Hariri and Erdogan "discussed the ongoing efforts to evacuate Lebanese citizens from Libya," the premier's press office announced in a communiqué.

Hundreds of people marched in Beirut on Sunday demanding an end to Lebanon's confessional system, mobilized by a call posted on Facebook.

"The revolution is everywhere ... Lebanon, it's your turn," chanted demonstrators, most of them young people, in reference to the popular uprisings rattling regimes across the Arab world since January.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati stressed on Sunday that the participation of the March 14 forces in his government was “necessary” but said he would study with President Michel Suleiman other available options if the coalition decided to boycott the cabinet.

Miqati made his remark as he wrapped up a two-day visit to the northern port city of Tripoli. The prime minister-designate hadn’t visited his hometown since his nomination a month ago.

Scores of Lebanese returned home from strife-torn Libya via Jordan on Sunday, urging Beirut authorities to facilitate the evacuation of other Lebanese citizens there, said the state-run National News Agency.

The Lebanese came aboard a Jordanian plane along with several members of their family holding Libyan passports, said NNA.

The Lebanese army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) conducted an exercise in large-scale disaster response over the weekend.

The two-day exercise entitled “United Beacon” was carried out in the southern city of Tyre in cooperation with a number of government and non-government organizations, said a statement issued by UNIFIL.

Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil admitted on Sunday to causing the gasoline crisis that has engulfed Lebanon but said there wasn’t any other way to defend the people’s rights and lower prices.

During a press conference he held at his hometown in Batroun, Bassil said he received phone calls from state officials during his visit to Rome on Friday urging him to issue the updated price list of gasoline.