Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat stressed that no promises were made to MP Michel Aoun to support him in the presidential race and that head of the Movement, ex-PM Saad Hariri did not ask his candidate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh to withdraw from the race, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

“The statement of the Mustaqbal bloc did not mention in a phrase that it continues to support Franjieh simply because there is no new decision in that regard,” Fatfat told the daily.

Patriarch al-Rahi's envoy Bishop Boulos Sayyah said it is normal for Bkirki to elect MP Michel Aoun for the presidency because he has the support of the majority of Christians, as he stressed that Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi would be pleased if founder of the Free Patriotic Movemnet, Aoun, wins the polls, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

“The latest political developments at the presidential level are promising after (ex-PM Saad) Hariri gave momentum to the file. Patriarch al-Rahi rejoices for the election of Aoun and he has echoed that several times,” said Sayyah.

The Free Patriotic Movement is “cautious” regarding the latest efforts of al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri to end the country's presidential vacuum, an FPM official said on Tuesday.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri told the members of his parliamentary bloc on Tuesday that he might make the “bitter choice” of endorsing Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency as some Mustaqbal MPs described such a step as “suicidal,” media reports said.

Culture Minister Rony Araiji of the Marada Movement hinted Tuesday that the movement's leader MP Suleiman Franjieh might not withdraw from the presidential race should his main backer, ex-PM Saad Hariri, ask him to do so.

The atmospheres in the region “do not encourage a presidential settlement” in Lebanon, Mustaqbal bloc sources said on Tuesday, amid speculation in the country that Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri's return to Lebanon will speed up the election of a president.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil noted Tuesday that there are “attempts to achieve accord” in the country while warning that the FPM would confront anyone seeking to “block partnership” strongly and to the extent of “martyrdom.”

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc announced Tuesday that al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri has launched “consultations with all political parties” in a bid to “speed up the election of a president,” while reiterating that Hizbullah is to blame for the protracted presidential void crisis.

Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb confirmed on Tuesday that the government would carry on the implementation of its own waste management plan on ending the trash crisis, reminding that all ministers have agreed on it except for the Free Patriotic Movement.

“Facts on the ground have shown that the aforementioned plan was not the best; but there is no other solution,” Shehayyeb said after a meeting devoted to address the trash issue at the Progressive Socialist Party's office in el-Msaytbeh.

A State Security police patrol arrested eight Syrians in Baalbek's town of Sariin in the eastern Bekaa valley for illegal entry into Lebanon's territory, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

“A State Security patrol in Baalbek carried out a raid on a Syrian refugee encampment in Sariin, east of the city,” said NNA.