The so-called change parliamentary bloc is trying to break the status quo created by MP Michel Mouawad’s nomination through promoting the candidacy of ex-MP Salah Honein, whom they see as “a sovereign, reformist and unprovocative candidate who did not get involved in corruption,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Change MPs believe that Honein “can unify the opposition’s votes around him, contrary to Mouawad,” the daily added.

A French-U.S.-Qatari-Saudi meeting will be held in Paris in mid-January to discuss the Lebanese file, without any official or political Lebanese presence, amid an effort led by the French president to convince his allies with a plan aimed at securing the election of a president and the formation of a government in Lebanon, a media report said.

“A lot of questions are surrounding many aspects related to the meeting, including the level of representation, which is still ambiguous, in addition to the agenda and how to implement the resolutions, especially should there be an agreement on articles related to the economic and financial situation,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday stressed that “domestic” dialogue must be held to agree on a new president for the country and that Hezbollah is keen on resolving the "dispute" with the Free Patriotic Movement through “communication.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Tuesday that “dialogue is underway to find a reformist and sovereign exit for the presidential election among the various parliamentary blocs that believe in real and serious dialogue.”

Geagea’s remarks come after MP Melhem Riachi of the LF revealed that the opposition forces are preparing to launch a “Plan B” to deal with the presidential crisis in late January.

Unrest erupted Tuesday in Khalde in connection with the arrest of a fugitive from the area’s Arab tribesmen.

“Moussa Zaher Ghosn was arrested by army intelligence agents on Khalde’s seaside road and a clash broke out between the army intelligence agents and the tribesmen,” al-Jadeed TV reported, adding that Ghosn was wounded in the clash.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan on Tuesday called for “finalizing the presidential election as soon as possible,” warning that “the country and citizens can no longer bear this vacuum that is destroying all of the state’s pillars.”

Accordingly, he called for electing a president who would be “a statesman who would embrace all citizens and be keen on their rights all.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has hit back at remarks by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

In his sermon on Sunday, al-Rahi had criticized Berri’s proposals for the presidential file, rejecting his suggestion for securing a “prior agreement” on the president’s identity prior to voting.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar of the Free Patriotic Movement will file an appeal before the State Shoura Council against the decrees that were issued in the latest caretaker cabinet session, al-Jadeed TV reported on Tuesday.

Speaking to al-Jadeed, the media adviser of caretaker PM Najib Mikati, Fares Gemayel, stressed that “the decrees are constitutional and cannot be appealed.”

A Hezbollah delegation held talks Monday in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

An informed Hezbollah source on Monday denied in remarks to Iran’s state news agency IRNA the “rumors” published by some Israeli and Arab media outlets about the health of Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.