Speaker Nabih Berri adjourned to Thursday a parliamentary session set to discuss several draft laws, a day after Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas submitted his resignation to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun for refusing to sign the controversial transportation allowance decree.

While parliament discussed several issues during its Wednesday session, it did not tackle the two main draft laws that would determine the fate of the transportation allowance.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun revealed on Tuesday that he has not yet decided whether he will accept Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ resignation.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “The dispute over the transportation allowance is now between us and Nahhas.”

Former General Security chief Jamil al-Sayyed slammed on Monday Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s assumption of the premiership, accusing him of only serving his personal interests.

He told MTV television: “His position at the head of the government is the biggest catastrophe for Lebanon.”

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas informed Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun about his intention to resign after refusing to sign the transportation allowance decree, media reports said on Tuesday.

Nahhas informed Aoun about his decision to allow the FPM chief to study his options and discuss the issue during the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc meeting on Tuesday afternoon, OTV, mouthpiece of the Free Patriotic Movement, reported.

Cabinet sessions, which were suspended on Feb. 1, are likely to resume this week after President Michel Suleiman and Premier Najib Miqati reportedly agreed to call on the government to convene immediately after Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas signs a controversial transportation allowance decree.

Suleiman and Miqati, who met at Baabda palace on Monday, held onto their stance on the necessity for Nahhas to sign the decree “before anything else,” An Nahar daily reported.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Nabil de Freij stressed on Monday that the cabinet should have acted swiftly concerning Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ refusal to sign the transportation allowance decree and “withdrawn confidence” from him.

“The cabinet didn’t take so far a decision regarding Nahhas’ behavior while it should have taken a firm decision against him and maybe withdrawn its confidence,” de Freij told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5).

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil sought on Monday to minimize the importance of signing a decree on transportation allowances by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas, saying the issue will be resolved through parliament’s adoption of a draft law.

The issue will be resolved after parliament “approves a draft law proposed by MP Ibrahim Kanaan in agreement with the labor minister,” Bassil told An Nahar daily, saying “the signature of the transportation decree will remain a minor detail with regards to the importance of the law that will be issued next Wednesday.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati maintained a steady position regarding the suspension of the cabinet sessions if Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas doesn’t add his signature to the transportation allowance decree approved by the government, according to local newspapers published on Monday.

“The cabinet will not accept to discuss the issue before minister Nahhas (who is loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun) signs the decree,” Miqati’s sources told An Nahar newspaper on Monday.

Sources close to Speaker Nabih Berri expressed optimism that Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas would sign a controversial transportation allowances decree before a parliamentary session scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

The sources told An Nahar and As Safir dailies on Monday that Nahhas could sign the decree in the next few days, paving way for parliament to approve it and allowing the cabinet to annex it to a recent wage hike.

Discussions over the transportation allowance may be postponed until after Wednesday’s parliamentary session should political powers fail to reach a solution for the dispute, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s sources told the daily however that they expect the transportation allowance bill to be signed before Wednesday.