The March 8 forces are working head over heels to guarantee a quorum of 65 MPs in a parliamentary session set to discuss the electricity project on Thursday, An Nahar daily reported.

The newspaper said that the opposition lawmakers are mulling to withdraw from the session to prevent the necessary quorum as an objection to the failure to approve the amendments that they are calling for to guarantee greater transparency in the implementation of the $1.2 billion plan.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that some officials are carrying out aggravating actions against each other instead of bearing in mind the people’s interests.

“I call on all the political powers, March 8 forces and March 14-led opposition, to work on providing the Lebanese people with their livelihood demands,” Berri told An Nahar newspaper.

Only a state built upon justice and equality is capable of protecting all of its citizens, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and Ignatius IV Hazim, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, said Tuesday.

In a joint statement issued after a closed-door meeting and a dinner banquet at the HQ of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate in Balamand, the two Christian leaders also “stressed their rejection of the notion of ‘protection’ for any group, from whichever side it may come.”

President Michel Suleiman has announced that he agreed with Libyan officials that a conference to encourage investment in Libya will be held in Beirut on Nov. 24.

Suleiman made the announcement in New York on Tuesday as he participated in a high-ranking meeting on Libya that was attended by top officials including U.S. President Barack Obama.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday voiced concerns over “the recurrence of security incidents” in the country.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc said it discussed “the surge in security incidents, such as the latest atrocious crime against the peaceful family of Ali al-Hajj Dib in the Ras al-Nabaa area, and other daily incidents involving the use of firearms.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun accused on Tuesday the Mustaqbal bloc of seeking to obstruct the state’s functioning, labeling its members as “liars and hypocrites.”

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “They all make personal attacks. This is defamation and not tackling the problem.”

More than 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations' offices in Beirut on Tuesday in a show of support for a Palestinian bid to secure full U.N. membership.

"We are here to show our support for Palestine's right to be recognized as a state, a right that is stipulated by international law," said Kazem Hassan, one of the organizers of the joint rally by Lebanese and Palestinians.

Speaker Nabih Berri called parliament to session on Thursday in order for it to address various pending issues, including the electricity file.

He also called on the joint parliamentary committees to convene on Wednesday in order to tackle the electricity draft law.

Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem accused the March 14 forces on Tuesday of acting in a way that serves the U.S.-Israeli project.

“I don’t like to mention much what the March 14 group is doing as a conspiracy,” Qassem told Iran’s Fars news agency. “But it acts in a way that whether willingly or unwillingly serves the Israeli-American project.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is demanding an apology from French Ambassador Denis Pietton before setting a date to meet with him, Bkirki sources told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily on Tuesday.

“Al-Rahi will not set a date for a meeting with Ambassador Denis Pietton if the latter decides to meet him,” the sources said.