Lebanese University contract teachers announced on Monday that they will hold a sit-in throughout the night near the presidential palace in Baabda to demand that President Michel Suleiman, who is currently abroad, resolve the case of their full-time employment.

They urged him to approve their employment during the cabinet session scheduled for January 3.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly hoped on Monday that the 2013 parliamentary elections would be held on time.

She reiterated that “the United States welcomes Lebanese efforts to implement an electoral law that would pave the way for free, fair and transparent elections.”

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani announced on Monday that the elections of the Higher Islamic Council will be carried out during the last week of February.

Qabbani, after holding talks with former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss, expressed regret over the division among the Islamic body, stressing that he will confront any campaign against the person of the mufti.

Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel suggested that the March 14 opposition lawmakers pay the fees of their stay at a hotel near the parliament to attend the parliamentary subcommittee meetings aimed at discussing the new electoral draft law.

Informed sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper on Monday that Gemayel argues that the parliament lacks the required budget to cover the expenses of the opposition MPs' stay at the hotel.

The March 14 opposition alliance reiterated its rejection of a system based on proportional representation in the 2013 parliamentary elections over what it called the “hegemony” of Hizbullah's weapons.

“We reject proportionality over the hegemony of arms which cripple this system in areas under (Hizbullah) control and mainly Baalbek-Hermel and the South,” al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat told al-Liwaa newspaper published Monday.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh stressed on Monday that the Central Bank of Lebanon will maintain a monetary stability in 2013, assuring that the country had only witnessed a slow down not a recession in 2012.

“The economy is bracing for a slowdown in 2013 but we will not enter recession,” Salameh pointed out in remarks to As Safir newspaper.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati expressed on Monday optimism over the upcoming meeting of the parliamentary electoral subcommittee on January 8 to discuss the electoral draft-law.

“I am convinced and believe that we will be able to reach consensus over the new electoral law,” Miqati said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

Speaker Nabih Berri advised on Monday the bickering parliamentary majority and the opposition to take advantage of the “golden opportunity” to agree on an electoral draft-law ahead of the 2013 parliamentary polls.

In remarks to several local newspapers, Berri said: “Everyone should drop their negative” attitudes.

Unidentified assailants on Sunday hurled a hand grenade on al-Khnaq Street in Tripoli's Bab al-Ramel neighborhood, state-run National News Agency reported.

“At once, army and Internal Security Forces troops arrived on the scene, cordoned off the location and launched an investigation,” NNA said.

The imam of Sidon's Bilal bin Rabah Mosque, Islamist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir, on Sunday stressed that he does not have a problem with the Shiite sect but rather with Hizbullah, calling for coexistence with Christians in the northern region of Akkar.

“Accusations linking Akkar to terrorism are baseless and there is an attempt by some parties to distort the image of Sunni Muslims, especially in the North, because they are hosting the Syrian refugees,” Asir said during a rally organized by Akkar Youth in the area of al-Abdeh.