Speaker Nabih Berri voiced his agreement with Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri's position that priority in Lebanon lies in electing a new president, reported the daily An Nahar on Wednesday.

He told the daily: “Political life in Lebanon will be stabilized with the election of a president.”

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed on Friday that the main reason for referring the new wage scale to the joint parliamentary committees was the objection expressed by the army over the controversial pay raise draft-law for the public sector.

“The reservations expressed by the military corps was the cause of sending back the draft-law to the joint parliamentary committees,” Berri told various local newspapers.

Several scenarios are currently being discussed to carry out the extension of the parliament's mandate, which became a de-facto choice amid the ongoing presidential impasse and the deep rift among the political arch-foes.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Thursday, several parliamentary blocs are discussing three options to extend the tenure of the parliament.

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel said Wednesday that he would propose a bill to the government on a wage hike for the army after the military corps expressed reservations to the controversial pay raise draft-law for the public sector.

“The military has certain requirements related to its working conditions,” Moqbel said during a joint press conference with Lebanese Forces chief George Adwan at parliament.

Parliament failed to discuss on Wednesday the wage hike draft-law after Speaker Nabih Berri sent back the bill to the joint parliamentary committees for discussion over differences on the raise.

Berri had earlier warned that he would withdraw the draft-law from the agenda of the parliamentary session if certain parties continued to oppose the bill.

Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed severe frustration at criticism directed against the army, rejecting verbal assaults on the military, which is caught in a battle with jihadists on the border with Syria.

“The army's soldiers and officers are among the best and we are proud of them,” Berri was quoted by An Nahar daily as saying on Tuesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri chaired on Monday a meeting for parliament's bureau which set a date for a legislative session, whose agenda is topped with the controversial public sector wage scale.

MP Marwan Hamadeh said following the meeting that the members of the bureau put the agenda of the session, which Berri would call for Wednesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri has refused to call for a legislative session before receiving guarantees from the rival parties that they had agreed on the controversial wage scale for the public sector.

Al-Joumhouria daily on Friday quoted Berri as saying that a meeting of the parliament's bureau should precede the session and that he would call for it only if he receives the long awaited solution for the raise.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that rival MPs had made progress in agreeing on the public sector wage scale, which he described as the “key” to holding legislative sessions.

Berri spoke to his visitors about the efforts exerted by his aide Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan to approve the raise.

Parliament failed again on Tuesday to elect a new president over the boycott caused by the majority of the March 8 camp's parliamentary blocs amid an initial agreement by March 14 alliance lawmakers to attend legislative sessions aimed at approving important draft-laws.

Speaker Nabih Berri adjourned the session to October 9 after lack of quorum