The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Tuesday called for a general strike and demonstrations to be staged on October 10 over what it called “the government's procrastination” and “the onslaught of the Economic Committees,” stressing that it will not stand idly by as the government delays referring the new wage scale to parliament.

On September 6, the cabinet approved the new wage scale with a hike in taxes on real estate and banking transactions, without reaching a final agreement on funding sources.

The Phalange Party on Tuesday called on the Christian parties to agree on an electoral law for the 2013 parliamentary polls that would guarantee “proper Christian representation.”

In a statement issued after its political bureau's weekly meeting, the party urged “the Christian leaders and lawmakers in particular to agree on what guarantees proper Christian representation."

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc pushed on Tuesday for the adoption of an electoral law based on small districts, as it “takes into consideration the fears of a great segment of the Lebanese society that is calling for a just representation”.

In a statement delivered by MP Kazem al-Kheir after the bloc's weekly meeting, al-Mustaqbal MPs described the draft law proposed by the government as one-dimensional, driven by a plan to serve Hizbullah's interests and maintain the party's domination over the legal authority in Lebanon.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said that preventing him from entering the Our Lady of Elige Church in Maifouq on Sunday was a breach of the Lebanese National Charter by "those who are claiming to be Christian," noting that the FPM does not mind that the Orthodox Gathering electoral law be put to a vote during the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committees.

"I regret that the ownership of the Our Lady of Elige Church has shifted to the Lebanese Forces, but I'd like to say that the Constitution guarantees freedom of movement in any region and no politician can prevent anyone from enjoying that privilege," Aoun told reporters sardonically after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that he is holding on to the electoral draft law referred by his cabinet to the parliament, saying that any proposal that contradicts the Taef accord is rejected.

“If there is any defection in the distribution of districts in our draft law then the parliament can amend them,” Miqati told reporters after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks on Tuesday with Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi on the latest developments at the regional and international levels, in addition to bilateral agreements signed between Lebanon and Iran.

After the meeting at the Grand Serail, Abadi said: “The PM and I discussed the developments at the regional and international levels, mainly focusing on bilateral relations between the two countries.”

A man, who was detained on charges of abusing drugs, quarreled with security guards at the Justice Palace in Baabda after he threatened to escape, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Mohammed Shokr wounded on Monday night one of the guards using a metal blade and set mattresses in his cell on fire.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Tuesday that his cabinet is keen to maintain the financial balance in the country and to allocate the necessary money to finance the new salaries scale for public employees.

“We can't spend without having revenues,” he said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

The son of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the abduction of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims in Syria in May, reported Ad Diyar daily on Tuesday.

He was thought to be on the bus carrying the Lebanese back from a pilgrimage in Iran, Syrian opposition sources told the daily.

The joint parliamentary committees convened at parliament on Tuesday in order to continue discussions on the parliamentary electoral law amid ongoing divisions between the various parties.

The meeting ended without any agreement and a new session will be held on Thursday morning.