Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri will call for a legislative session whenever the need arises, he told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Thursday.

Many MPs including al-Kataeb and Change MPS, Michel Mouawad and other independent lawmakers had criticized a parliamentary session that discussed a letter by ex-President Michel Aoun. They walked out after voicing their objection.

Parliament convened Thursday for the sixth time and failed again to elect a president, with the post vacant since the mandate of Michel Aoun expired last month.

Parliament is split between supporters of Hezbollah and its opponents, neither having a clear majority.

Consultations are ongoing between the U.S., France and Saudi Arabia to reach a “framework agreement” over the new Lebanese president, in coordination with Egypt and a number of regional countries, highly informed sources said.

“Meetings were held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia to review what needs to be done in order not to prolong the presidential void,” the sources told al-Liwaa newspaper in remarks published Wednesday, noting that French President Emmanuel Macron is coordinating with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in this regard.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Wednesday said he rejects the “equation” of electing a president who is “close to Hezbollah” and designating “a PM who is close to the other camp.”

“The Hezbollah camp and our camp represent two parallel lines that will not meet until further notice. I hope Hezbollah will tomorrow change its political project and give up its ideology, which would allow us to meet within five minutes, but as things are now, there are totally opposite political projects,” Geagea said in an interview with the Akhbar al-Yawm news agency.

Although France does not have a comprehensive initiative concerning the Lebanese presidential elections, it is exploring the stances of the various parties in a bid to secure consensus among them, media reports said.

In remarks published Wednesday, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that France is keen on reaching an agreement with Saudi Arabia that would facilitate the election of a president.

Thirteen MPs have filed a partial appeal before the Constitutional Council against the new banking secrecy law.

Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil traveled Wednesday morning to Paris, al-Jadeed said, to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron's adviser.

It is not clear whether a meeting with Macron is possible, the media outlet said. Al-Akhbar newspaper also said that a meeting with Macron is not sure.

Hezbollah has informed Bkirki that it has no veto over Army chief General Joseph Aoun’s presidential nomination but rather remarks over his performance, MTV said.

The head of the Democratic Gathering bloc MP Taymour Jumblat meanwhile met in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and said that his bloc will continue to vote for MP Michel Mouawad in the presidential election.

Médecins Sans Frontières /Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is contributing to the national vaccination campaign against cholera launched by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health’s by vaccinating people in Arsal, Akkar, Tripoli and Baalbek-Hermel in the north and northeast of Lebanon where most cholera cases are registered in the country, a statement said.

“600,000 cholera vaccines received by Lebanon, as first phase procurement, are to be administered in coordination with various international and local actors,” MSF said in a statement.

Nineteen MPs representing 32 Kataeb Party, independent and change lawmakers on Tuesday met in parliament and stressed that the “ultimate priority” is for the “immediate” election of a new president.

A statement said the legislators discussed “the mechanism of exiting the intractable political crisis which has plunged the country into the inferno of presidential vacuum, amid a dire economic and social situation accompanied by a total paralysis of the various state institutions and administrations in this critical period of Lebanon’s history.”