Higher Islamic Shiite Council deputy head Sheikh Ali al-Khatib on Friday said he rejects that the “Shiite vice governor” of the Central Bank assume Riad Salameh’s duties after the latter’s departure on July 31.

The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, has said that “efforts are being exerted for an agreement among the Lebanese over a certain solution for finalizing the presidential juncture.”

A day after French special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian left Lebanon, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported that Saudi Arabia prioritizes the election of a president to holding a dialogue.

Le Drian, on his second mission to Lebanon, proposed to all those taking part in the process of electing a president to invite them to a meeting in Lebanon in September to achieve a consensus on the challenges and on the priority projects the future president will have to carry out, and consequently the qualities necessary for tackling them.

The talks between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement witnessed “major progress” over the past hours, a media report said.

Most parties have in principle agreed to take part in the September dialogue that French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian has called for, highly informed sources said.

“The heads of the opposition parliamentary blocs and parties held an evaluation meeting via the Zoom application, in order to unify the stance on the French proposal,” al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

Three of the Central Bank vice-governors will not resign, while the first vice-governor Wassim Mansouri is being pressured to resign, informed sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The sources added, in remarks published Friday, that a legislative session might be held to provide a legal cover for the vice-governors to spend from the obligatory reserves for a three-month period.

The opposition camp will hold consultations prior to giving a final answer to French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian regarding his proposal for holding dialogue in September over the new president’s qualifications, Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel said.

“The consultations will take place today or tomorrow and we will have a unified answer,” Gemayel told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath television.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that he has not yet succeeded in convincing the Central Bank vice-governors not to resign.

"We are discussing the opportunity to give the vice-governors a temporary funding to maintain financial stability," he added.

Outgoing Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has stressed that he will not stay in his post after his term expires on July 31, as he warned against abolishing the Sayarfa exchange platform in an abrupt manner.

“I declared a year ago that this would be my last term at the Banque du Liban and in a few days I will turn a page of my life,” Salameh said in an overnight interview on LBCI television.

French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian met Thursday with Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad in Haret Hreik and with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri for a second time in Ain el-Tineh.

Le Drian arrived Tuesday in Lebanon to help resolve divisions that have left the presidency vacant for nearly nine months and met with Berri, who said that the meeting was "good" and that "an opening has pierced through" Lebanon's power vacuum.