Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat blasted Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and Free Patriotic Movement head MP Michel Aoun once again on Tuesday, denying that he discussed the presidential impasse with Speaker Nabih Berri or Hizbullah chief Sayyed Nassan Nasrallah.

"Let those among Christian figures who are holding onto their posts be reassured that we did not discuss the presidential vote with (Berri and) Sayyed Hassan,” Jumblat said after holding talks with the speaker in Ain el-Tineh, hitting out at Geagea and Aoun.

A parliament session was held on Saturday in order to express Lebanon's solidarity with the Palestinian Gaza Strip and the Iraqi city of Mosul.

The session was chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri and attended by the majority of political blocs.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that the agreement on paying the salaries of public sector employees was reached with Prime Minister Tammam Salam during a meeting they held earlier this week, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.

He told his visitors on Thursday: “Cabinet reached a short-term solution to the issue, but we hope that a permanent one will be reached.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam revealed that a solution to the civil servants salaries row is being discussed among the political powers, reported As Safir newspaper on Wednesday.

He expressed to the daily his optimism over resolving the dispute, revealing that the formula being studied will be proposed by Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil during the next cabinet session.

Parliament failed for the ninth time on Wednesday in electing a president due a lack of quorum.

Speaker Nabih Berri, who did not attend the session, set August 12 as the date for the tenth session.

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil on Tuesday reiterated his call for issuing legislation aimed at paying the salaries of public employees, warning that civil servants will be deprived of their wages if no such law is passed.

“Any increase in expenditure requires legislation and the issue will be raised in cabinet,” Khalil said after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh.

Outgoing United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Commander Major General Paolo Serra met with several Lebanese officials on Tuesday on a farewell visit, accompanied by his successor Major-General Luciano Portolano.

Serra said at the end of his tour on senior officials that he wanted to “thank them for their unflinching support.”

The Kataeb Party on Monday rejected any legislative activity at the parliament amid the presidential vacuum, warning also of the repercussions of not electing a new president.

"The Kataeb Party reiterates its calls for ending the (presidential) vacuum, refusing to give up to failure and becoming aware of the repercussions of not electing a new president,” the party said in a released statement after its political bureau's weekly meeting.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat stressed the need for the election of a president who is “not provocative” to another political camp, reported al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Monday.

He told the daily: “Christians must realize the difficulty of Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun or Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea's election as president.”

AMAL and al-Mustaqbal movements are expected to resume on Monday negotiations over the country's financial crisis after failing to reach a breakthrough over the weekend as both parties held onto their stances.

According to al-Liwaa newspaper, a meeting will be held on Monday between Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Speaker Nabih Berri's adviser, and al-Mustaqbal lawmakers Ghazi Youssef and Jamal al-Jarrah, in an attempt to end the crisis.