Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has endorsed the presidential nomination of ex-minister Jihad Azour, but “there is still confusion within the FPM that is casting doubt on the entire matter,” Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday snapped back at the Free Patriotic Movement after its chief Jebran Bassil strongly criticized him over the issue of holding cabinet sessions amid the ongoing presidential vacuum.

Lebanese Force chief Samir Geagea on Friday described a Cabinet meeting that got underway at 3:00 pm as “unconstitutional,” noting that “the majority of the items on its agenda are not urgent.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil for his part lashed out at caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, calling him the head of a “caretaker government that lacks complete legitimacy, constitutionalism and respect for the National Pact.”

The Free Patriotic Movement said Friday that the opposition is showing "positivity" regarding presidential candidates and that this positivity "will soon apply to the approach and program."

"We have been showing positivity since last July," the FPM said in a statement. "What has changed is the positivity that the opposition forces have started to show."

The MPs of the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and the Tajaddod bloc in addition to Change MPs Waddah al-Sadek, Mark Daou and Michel Doueihi on Friday slammed Hezbollah’s latest military drill, saying it “provoked the majority of the Lebanese and the content of the Jeddah Arab Summit declaration.”

“Through this drill, it wanted to tell the Lebanese, Arabs and the world that its sovereignty is above that of the Lebanese state, that the state has no sovereignty over its territory, and that there can be no decision in Lebanon that defies its will and the will of the regional axis it belongs to,” the MPs said in a statement.

The Syrian refugees cannot return to their country from Lebanon due to the inappropriate circumstances and the absence of a political solution, U.S. State Department Arabic Spokesperson Sam Werberg said.

The return decision must be in the hands of the refugees, Werberg added, in remarks to Lebanon’s al-Jadeed television.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday noted that “further dialogue and contacts” are required in the presidential file.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Thursday announced his resignation as PSP chief, a post he has held since the 1977 assassination of his father Kamal Jumblat.

Jumblat also resigned from the PSP’s leadership council and called for an electoral convention on June 25 as per the party’s constitution and bylaws, the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal reported.

Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab has lamented that the latest efforts to break the presidential deadlock have been fruitless while noting that “communication is still ongoing.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has confirmed that “the alliance with Hezbollah has become in a different stage.”