President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday said that Lebanon “took notice” about U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s letter regarding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon cooperation protocol.

He briefed ministers of foreign affairs and justice, Adnan Mansour and Shakib Qortbawi, on the content of the letter he received from Ban through the foreign ministry.

Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan accused President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Tuesday of obstructing the work of the cabinet by keeping sessions suspended.

“Under no circumstances is it acceptable to suspend cabinet sessions, particularly at this critical stage in the region,” Arslan, who is allied with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, said in a statement.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Tuesday that there’s no specific timeframe for ending the cabinet deadlock, stressing that Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas can resolve the crisis by signing the transportation allowance decree, according to al-Mustaqbal newspaper.

“The prospects for resolving the current cabinet crisis is blurry, and there is no specific timeframe to resolve it,” Miqati told the daily.

Speaker Nabih Berri has set next Wednesday as the date for a parliamentary session to discuss a number of proposals and draft laws.

The parliament will convene on Feb. 22 at 10:30 am, his office announced.

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas slammed Prime Minister Najib Miqati and President Michel Suleiman without naming them, saying that Lebanon isn’t a “Gulf state” where the ministers are just employees that take orders, according to As Safir newspaper published on Monday.

“Let them try to make me resign, if they can guarantee two-thirds of the ministers’ votes in the cabinet,” Nahhas reiterated.

Speaker Nabih Berri continued on Monday to insist on not mediating in the cabinet crisis, saying Premier Najib Miqati’s decision to suspend government sessions was “unjustified.”

“I hold onto my decision not to act as a mediator on the government crisis because Miqati’s decision on the suspension of sessions is unjustified,” Berri told As Safir daily.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Sunday stressed that his ministers “will not leave the government.”

“Let the premier quit” instead, Aoun said in an interview on Al-Jadeed television.

President Michel Suleiman called for firm measures against any security breach, noting that the strong political rhetoric is causing political, security, and economic instabilities, the National News Agency reported on Saturday.

“The strong political rhetoric and the failure to act responsibly and to abide by the constitution according to the Taif accord are the reasons behind the political, security and economic instabilities,” Suleiman stressed.

No progress will be achieved in resolving the government crisis until Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas approves the transportation allowance that is part of the government wage hike, Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s circles informed As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Saturday.

They added that the minister is obligated to publish the decree after the cabinet approved it even if the decision contradicts his views.

President Michel Suleiman on Friday stressed that “Lebanon is in a dire need for dialogue among its components” amid the extraordinary circumstances the Arab region is going through.

Separately, the president called on the state to shoulder its responsibilities in providing employment opportunities for the newly-graduated students and to keep them away from the political distribution of shares.