The Presidency on Monday snapped back at al-Mustaqbal Movement and caretaker Premier Saad Hariri’s press office, stressing that President Michel Aoun does not need constitutional “lessons” from anyone.

“Claims that the Free Patriotic Movement bloc intended to cede its votes to the President are mere fabrications and a prejudgment that preceded the binding parliamentary consultations that the president intended to conduct today,” the Presidency’s press office said in a statement.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement on Monday slammed both the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces, the country’s biggest Christian parties, lashing out at their “intersection of interests” after they both decided not to vote for caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier.

“The country stands at a critical crossroads that threatens to bring the direst consequences as a result of the race to score political points in one direction or another,” the Movement said in a statement.

The Free Patriotic Movement’s decision to cede its votes to President Michel Aoun so that he uses them as he wishes in the binding parliamentary consultations to pick a PM-designate is a “grave constitutional violation,” caretaker PM Saad Hariri’s office said on Monday.

“In the framework of the political contacts prior to the parliamentary consultations that were set for today, it turned out that the Free Patriotic Movement was planning to deposit its votes with the President of the Republic so that he uses them as he wishes,” Hariri’s office said in an English-language statement.

The Free Patriotic Movement on Monday called on caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri to pick a “consensual” candidate for the PM post.

“The FPM positively calls for an end to the waste of time and for the endorsement of the Strong Lebanon bloc’s proposal on the formation of an active salvation government comprised of competent and upright figures in terms of both its premier and ministers, so that it immediately starts to confront the severe crisis,” the FPM said in a statement.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis regretted the postponement of Lebanon's talks to pick a new prime minister in light of an aggravating political and economic crisis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning that Hizbullah and the State of Lebanon will pay dearly for any assault against Israel, Israeli media reports said on Monday.

The Lebanese Army issued a statement on Monday on the clashes with police near the parliament a day earlier on the eve of much-delayed consultations to form a new cabinet needed to fix a deepening economic crisis.

The anticipated binding parliamentary consultations to name a new Premier have been postponed until December 19 for “further consultations on the government,” after violent clashes erupted over the weekend between protesters and security forces.

The Presidency office of President Michel Aoun issued a statement shortly before the scheduled consultations at Baabda Palace saying that “President Aoun responded to the wishes of (caretaker) prime minister Saad Hariri to postpone parliamentary consultations until Thursday December 19.”

Several Arab and international leaders have sounded the alarm about the latest developments in Lebanon urging its leaders to “listen” to the people’s demands amid sweeping protests demanding an overhaul of the entire political class and an unprecedented economic crisis.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri reportedly held a “secret” meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh on Saturday, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

The daily said that discussions tackled several “suggestions,” on the formation of the government, that Berri believes must be addressed "quickly," said the daily.