Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin stressed on Wednesday the importance of consensus among the rival parties to elect a new head of state according to the constitution and within the deadline.

“Foreign countries should encourage the Lebanese to carry out (the elections) without interfering in the details,” Zasypkin said in an interview published in As Safir newspaper.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Sate for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson has urged the Lebanese to choose their leaders on time and away from foreign interference.

“The Lebanese can, should, and must choose their own leaders, and upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections are opportunities to do so,” Patterson said in a speech in Washington on Monday.

Al-Mustaqbal movement has reportedly informed Speaker Nabih Berri that any agreement with the Free Patriotic Movement is “not tangible.”

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, Ahmed Hariri, the secretary-general of al-Mustaqbal movement, informed Berri's adviser MP Ali Hassan Khalil that FPM chief Michel Aoun “remains a distant option” for the presidency.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader former PM Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil have agreed on the importance of holding the presidential elections on time to avoid vacuum, the FM and sources said.

Hariri and Bassil, who is a Free Patriotic Movement official and MP Michel Aoun's son-in-law, held a meeting in Paris on Tuesday on the eve of the second round of the presidential elections.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that his parliamentary bloc will attend the legislative session to elect a new president, stressing the need to elect a “made in Lebanon head of state.”

Berri said in remarks published in local newspapers that the Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc will attend all sessions set to elect a new president.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi backs the candidacy of former Interior Minister Ziad Baroud for the presidency, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the daily, al-Rahi informed officials ahead of his trip to the Vatican last week that he adopts Baroud's candidacy based on surveys carried out by Bkirki.

Aley lawmaker Henri Helou has said that he was serious about his candidacy for the presidency, reiterating that Lebanon needs a centrist head of state.

In remarks to al-Akhbar daily published on Wednesday, Helou, who received 16 votes in the first round of the polls, said: “I do take my candidacy seriously.”

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday announced that Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea “is the candidate who gained the support of all March 14 forces,” urging MPs to vote for him during the second round of the presidential elections that will be held on Wednesday.

“Participation in tomorrow's session is at the core of the democratic, parliamentary action seeking to preserve the Lebanese constitution and state institutions,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The Judicial Police detained on Tuesday Beirut and Mount Lebanon's “biggest” drug dealer, who has over 50 arrest warrants against him.

"The Central Anti-Drug Bureau and the Anti-Drug Bureau in the South were able to arrest A. N., 31, in the Faraya region (in Mount Lebanon),” the Internal Security Forces said in a communique.

Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel revealed on Tuesday that the March 14 alliance might reach a stage in which it will start “considering alternatives in the presidential race.”

"There is an ongoing electoral game, but we will reach a point when we will have to consider alternatives for presidency,” Gemayel said in an interview with al-Manar television.