March 14 opposition alliance lawmakers are scheduled to hold a meeting at the Center House to take a final stance on the person they will name for the premiership during the binding consultations at Baabda palace, informed sources said Wednesday.

While the sources did not reveal to An Nahar newspaper when the meeting will be held, high-ranking al-Mustaqbal movement officials told As Safir that the final decision on the opposition’s candidate will be made on Thursday night.

Coordination between al-Mustaqbal movement and the Progressive Socialist Party on the best candidate for the post of the prime minister has made strong progress, reports said Thursday.

Several dailies said Caretaker Minister Wael Abou Faour, who had held talks with al-Mustaqbal chief Saad Hariri in Riyadh, briefed President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday on the results of his meeting in the Saudi capital and then traveled back there for another round of talks with Hariri.

The rift between the Lebanese foes is expected to deepen as media reports said on Wednesday that President Michel Suleiman is expected to call for a session for the caretaker cabinet next week.

According to An Nahar newspaper, Suleiman will call for a session that would focus on the preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections based on the 1960 law.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel shied away on Tuesday from revealing the timeframe for the postponement of the parliamentary elections but said he needed six months of preparations for the polls if there was consensus on a new law.

During a visit to the general-directorate of the Internal Security Forces in the Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh, Charbel said: “I can only announce for how long the polls will be postponed when agreement is reached on a new law.”

Sharp differences loomed to the surface among the March 8 coalition's members over the thorny crises confronting the country as the main factions of the coalition are expected to hold talks on Wednesday to resolve the disputes.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Tuesday, March 8 Christians and Hizbullah representatives failed during a meeting they held the day before to reach common ground on the nature of the new cabinet and the new electoral law.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed on Tuesday that the failure to adopt the Baabda Declaration as the policy statement of the new government will obstruct the resumption of the national dialogue between the rival parties.

“The ministerial statement of any cabinet should be clear in this regard,” Geagea said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

A meeting was held on Monday between the March 8 alliance Christians and a delegation from Hizbullah at the residence of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun in Rabieh.

The meeting included Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, ex-Minister Youssef Saade, FPM caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, Tashnag Party MP Hagop Pakradonian, political aide of the Hizbullah chief Hussein Khalil and Hizbullah Liaison and Coordination Officer Wafiq Safa.

French President Francois Hollande expressed hope on Monday that Lebanon's sovereignty and stability remain, calling on politicians to abide by the Baabda declaration.

According to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Hollande contacted his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman to congratulate him on Easter Day, stressing the importance of implementing the dissociation policy.

Al-Mustaqbal movement will not submit the candidacy of any lawmaker for the parliamentary elections prior an agreement among the parties affiliated in the March 14 alliance, lawmaker Ahmed Fatfat revealed on Monday.

“We will not take a unilateral decision in this regards,” Fatfat said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5).

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Sunday the need to hold the parliamentary elections on time, rejecting the possibility of extending the term of the current parliament.

He said: “The political parties are obligated to agree on a new electoral law and they cannot escape from this duty.”