Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Monday that parliament will always be ready to hold the presidential elections should an agreement be reached on a compromise candidate, reported the National News Agency.

“The local and regional conditions may lead to promising signals that may encourage parties to agree on a new president,” said Berri according to his visitor, head of Maronite General Council Wadih el-Khazen.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Saturday that the presidential deadlock should end swiftly after the parliament tenure extension became a de-facto.

“Now it's time for us to discuss the presidential elections,” Berri said in comments published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper.

The Free Patriotic Movement is preparing to challenge the extension of the parliament's mandate, which will come into force on Tuesday.

Sources close to FPM told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Saturday that the final challenge draft will be ready by Tuesday, when the draft-law will be published in the Official Gazette.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the law on the extension of parliament's term until June 2017 will come into force despite the rejection of several cabinet ministers to endorse it, and stressed that the new electoral law should adhere to the Taef Accord.

Several local dailies on Friday quoted Berri as telling his visitors that the extension of the legislature's tenure will become a fait accompli next week when the law is published in the Official Gazette.

Lawmakers extended on Wednesday the mandate of the parliament until June 2017 amid a boycott by Christian MPs from the Free Patriotic Movement and the representatives of the Kataeb Party in the legislature.

FPM lawmakers from the Change and Reform bloc resorted to boycott while Marada Movement and Tashnag Party representatives in the bloc attended the session. But members of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh's bloc voted for the extension as Tashnag's two lawmakers voted against it.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea is scheduled to launch an initiative to avoid the extension of parliament’s term, which is set to take place on Wednesday.

The “last-minute initiative” will be made during a press conference at 12:30 pm Tuesday, Geagea's press office announced.

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated that quorum is secured in this week's parliamentary session to extend the legislature's term but he expressed resentment at some accusations that he was the sole person backing such an extension.

Berri told his visitors on Sunday that quorum is guaranteed for Wednesday's session which is aimed at discussing two draft-laws that call for a technical extension through the suspension of an electoral law deadline for a limited period and a long-term extension of the legislature’s mandate.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi warned lawmakers on Sunday from further violating the constitutions as Speaker Nabih Berri expressed surprise over the Patriarch's strong rhetoric over the possible extension of the parliament's tenure.

“Lawmakers should end the blatant violation of the constitution and the infringement of the national pact,” al-Rahi said during a sermon at saint Charbel's Parish in Sydney in Australia.

Speaker Nabih Berri has warned that a session on the extension of parliament's mandate next week would undermine constitutional partnership unless key Christian blocs participated in the vote.

Constitutional partnership “is not represented only in attending the session, because a quorum is already secured,” Berri told his visitors late Wednesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri scheduled on Thursday a parliamentary session for November 5, which media reports suggested will be used to extend the parliament's term.

The National News Agency said that Wednesday's session will be aimed at studying and approving draft-laws.