Speaker Nabih Berri warned on Thursday against the ambush set for regional countries, saying that their economic and political powers are being scattered.

“Division is increasing (among the regional countries) and they’re turning into nations governed by the power of arms,” Berri said at the opening of the Languages Faculty at St. Joseph University (USJ).

The parliamentary majority intends to demand a probe into the “financial scandals” allegedly committed by previous governments, in a bid to hit back at the opposition’s call for a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the issue of power-generating vessels, al-Manar television reported on Wednesday.

Al-Manar said a meeting was held between Speaker Nabih Berri and MPs Mohammed Raad, Ibrahim Kanaan and Ayyoub Hmayyed, during which they discussed the opposition’s call for a commission of inquiry.

Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammed Fneish slammed on Wednesday a proposal by al-Mustaqbal movement to form a neutral or technocrat cabinet to supervise the upcoming 2013 elections.

“There’s nothing called a technocrat or a neutral government. We have the Taef accord, unless we are required to import such a new combination,” Fneish told As Safir newspaper.

Speaker Nabih Berri has moved to the stage of inquiring Lebanese politicians about their stances from his electoral proposal based on proportional representation that considers Lebanon a single district.

The first stop was President Michel Suleiman when Berri dispatched Ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Mohammed Fneish to Baabda palace on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan welcomed a request submitted by Lebanese Forces lawmaker George Adwan at the parliament to form an investigation committee concerning the leasing of power-generating vessels, media reports said on Tuesday.

“The formation of the committee would make the issue more transparent,” Miqati told As Safir newspaper.

Lebanese expatriates are waiting for the cabinet decision on the mechanism that would allow them to cast their ballots in the 2013 elections as the session at the Baabda Palace on Wednesday is expected to tackle the issue.

“The cabinet would have to confront the complications that will be caused by the discussions on the mechanism that would enable expats to vote,” ministerial sources told An Nahar on Tuesday.

Military Examining Magistrate Imad al-Zain issued an arrest warrant on Monday against a Lebanese citizen on charges of contacting Israel.

G.M. is accused of providing Israel with information on missing Israeli military airman Ron Arad.

Speaker Nabih Berri is committed to his suggestion to adopt proportional representation for the electoral law, reported As Safir newspaper on Monday.

To this end, his advisor Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and that of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hussein Khalil, are expected to hold talks on Thursday with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on the electoral law.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi denied on Sunday that he supports the adoption of proportional representation for the 2013 parliamentary elections.

He said: “We support an electoral law that best represents the Lebanese people.”

The 2013 parliamentary elections cannot be held under a government that was not formed in a democratic manner, a leading opposition figure told the Kuwaiti al-Anba newspaper on Sunday.

It said: “A transitional government must be formed to oversee the elections and prepare the circumstances under which they can be held.”