Jabal Mohsen residents held on Thursday a brief sit-in to protest the cabinet's delay in paying compensations for the damages caused by the recent security incidents in the northern city of Tripoli.

Protesters called on Prime Minister Najib Miqati to discuss with the Higher Relief Council the appropriate way to compensate for those who were affected by the incidents.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel agreed on Thursday with al-Meqdad family members to suspend a sit-in in Beirut's southern suburbs until trials of their relatives kick off on December 18.

“The trials will not be delayed... We should act wisely,” Charbel told protesters, who blocked Hadi Nasrallah highway with tents and obstructed the two-lane highway with metal barriers and garbage containers to press forward the start of the trials.

Political bickering on the controversial electricity issue during a cabinet session triggered counter-accusations on Wednesday between Energy Minister Jebran Bassil and Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi, reports said Thursday.

Bassil accused the Finance Ministry of failing to provide the cost for acquiring the power-generating ships that were expected to arrive in Lebanon from Turkey in October to limit the power rationing in the country.

March 14 opposition alliance lawmakers are set to meet in the next few days to discuss ways to counter rapporteurs from the March 8 majority coalition who are presiding parliamentary committee meetings, An Nahar daily reported on Thursday.

The opposition boycotted all parliamentary activity in the aftermath of the Oct. 19 assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch chief Wissam al-Hasan after it blamed the government for the killing, and called for its resignation.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee lashed out at the cabinet on Thursday, accusing it of trying to thwart its endeavors by postponing discussions on the new wage scale for public employees until December 10.

“The government is buying time and stalling... Instead of referring the new salary scale to the parliament it decided to refer the matter to another session,” head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

March 14 opposition officials warned on Thursday that the coalition will continue to boycott the national dialogue as long as Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government is still in power.

A high-ranking al-Mustaqbal movement official told As Safir newspaper that the opposition's stance hasn't changed.

The Lebanese cabinet announced on Wednesday that it will resume discussions on the new wage scale on December 10.

This decision was announced during the cabinet's meeting in Baabda palace.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun accused the Mustaqbal Movement and its allies of “oppressing” Christian factions in Lebanon through their practices over the parliamentary electoral law.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “Its allies, the Lebanese Forces and Phalange Party, are unjustly treating other Christian powers in Lebanon.”

Speaker Nabih Berri questioned on Wednesday the recent political debates over the extension of the term of the current parliament.

His visitors quoted as saying: “Attention should instead be focused on the resumption of parliament meetings.”

The March 14 General Secretariat renewed on Wednesday its position to boycott the national dialogue “in light of Hizbullah's insistence to make light of the Baabda Declaration” and refusal to discuss its possession of arms.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's recent announcement that the party is willing to fire its rockets without consulting the Lebanese state only justifies our decision to boycott the dialogue.”