Speaker Nabih Berri said the Lebanese face a crucial stage until the year's end and must drive lessons from the regional happenings which compel them to focus on their country's interest and end the political and institutional crisis, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.

“A crucial stage awaits us until the end of the year and it compels the Lebanese to prioritize an overall solution and to drive lessons from the regional happenings obligating them to turn their attention to their country's interest,” Berri told his visitors.

Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to launch a new initiative that summarizes all previous suggestions, the latest was that of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in an attempt to break the political deadlock in the country, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

The daily said “it is expected that several initiatives and positions might be made in the coming days and that they would reach their peak by the end of August where Berri is expected to make an initiative that summarizes all.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has voiced support for the re-designation of al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri as prime minister, following remarks by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that his party is “open to discussing” the issue of the premiership should an agreement be reached over the presidency.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday scheduled a presidential election session for Monday, August 8.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that he had received “positive feedback” from the interlocutors at the dialogue session a day earlier in Ain el-Tineh, mainly their adherence to the Taef accord, An Nahar daily reported.

Speaker Nabih Berri has reiterated his firm rejection of a new extension of the parliament's term, noting that the next parliamentary elections will be held in the spring of 2017 even if the political parties fail to agree on a new electoral law.

Speaker Nabih Berri has warned that “the country cannot withstand further procrastination, overbidding and obstruction,” reiterating his call for a so-called “package deal” among the rival political parties.

Lebanon has officially completed two years of vacuum in the presidency with no end in sight to the dispute that has crippled the country's top post since May 2014.

An Nahar daily on Wednesday marked the occasion by surveying the opinion of major Lebanese political leaders, with Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, and head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad abstaining from the interview.

Speaker Nabih Berri held talks on Tuesday night with head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri on the latest developments in Lebanon.

The speaker hosted the lawmaker to a dinner banquet at his Ain el-Tineh residence.

U.S. Charge d'Affaires Richard Jones urged on Tuesday the Lebanese people to exert all possible efforts to end the vacuum in the presidency.

He deemed after holding talks with Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri Speaker Nabih Berri's proposal to end the deadlock as “interesting.”