Speaker Nabih Berri suggested on Tuesday holding the elections of parliament and senate members simultaneously after the Progressive Socialist Party renewed its call for the creation of a senate and the implementation of administrative decentralization.

In remarks to As Safir daily, Berri said: “I suggest holding the parliamentary and senate elections simultaneously although the Taef accord calls for electing the members of the senate after the election of the first non-sectarian parliament.”

The electoral subcommittee ended its meeting on Tuesday without reaching an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law, despite MP Robert Ghanem labeling the session as “very positive” and with March 14 MP Michel Pharaon submitting a proposal over holding the elections over two phases.

Ghanem said after the meeting: “The approval of an electoral law will not resolve disputes in Lebanon.”

The March 14 opposition's independent Christian officials vowed on Tuesday to confront attempts to cancel this year's parliamentary elections and reiterated their call for the adoption of a draft-law that represents all Lebanese fairly.

“We will exert all efforts to confront the attempt to cancel or postpone the elections,” the officials said in a statement following a meeting they held at Batroun MP Butros Harb's residence in Hazmieh.

President Michel Suleiman expressed on Monday his desire for current transformations in the region to “guarantee the reform, freedom and true democracy that people are looking for”.

"There is no stability in the Middle East without social justice,” Suleiman stated after receiving an award by the International Foundation for Unity of Orthodox Christian Nations in Russia.

The rival March 8 and March 14 camps on Monday embarked on studying their next steps concerning the thorny issue of the electoral law, after failing to reach consensus during the meetings of the electoral parliamentary subcommittee.

“A meeting for the ministers of the parliamentary majority is underway at the residence of (Health) Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, where the conferees are discussing the electoral law and activating government's work,” al-Manar television reported Monday evening.

The Russian government said on Monday that it will send two planes to Lebanon to evacuate Russian citizen from war-torn Syria, the first such effort since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in March 2011.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said two of its planes will fly to Beirut on Tuesday to carry more than 100 Russians from Syria.

Phalange bloc MP Sami Gemayel revealed on Monday that Speaker Nabih Berri will call the joint parliamentary committees to meet next week if an agreement is not reached over a new electoral law.

He said after holding talks with Berri at Ain el-Tineh: “No electoral draft law has been put to rest and the speaker is committed to the agreements reached at the parliamentary subcommittee.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks on Monday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, while stressing on Sunday the importance of maintaining Lebanon's stability amid the unrest in Syria.

He emphasized the need to “spare Lebanon future instability.”

The Phalange Party urged on Monday political figures criticizing draft laws “that assure just representation and true partnership” to rethink their positions, restating that the proposal based on dividing Lebanon into 50 small electoral districts is still its top choice for an electoral law.

"Let the suggested proposals be debated in the parliament,” the Phalange said in an issued statement after its political bureau's weekly meeting.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat renewed on Monday his rejection of the Orthodox Gathering parliamentary electoral law, revealing that the party will present its position on the electoral law discussions.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “Some sides are mistaken in believing that they can eliminate the other in the parliamentary elections.”