Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that National Struggle Front leader Walid Jumblat was still part of the March 8 parliamentary majority despite accusations that he had joined the March 14 opposition.

In remarks to several newspapers published Wednesday, Berri said: “The March 14 team should be comforted. Walid Jumblat is still in the majority … and still one of its leaders.”

Speaker Nabih Berri announced on Wednesday that he agreed with Premier Najib Miqati and Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi for the government to prepare a detailed draft-law on an $11 billion spending made between 2006 and 2009 similar to a $5.9 billion bill referred to parliament by the cabinet.

“I decided to go ahead with the proposal of (al-Mustaqbal bloc leader) Fouad Saniora and the March 14 team to correlate the two draft laws,” Berri said in remarks to An Nahar and As Safir dailies.

Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi was on Monday tasked with preparing a draft-law on the extra-budgetary spending made by the governments of ex-PMs Fouad Saniora and Saad Hariri in 2006-2010, drawing the ire of the March 14 opposition which is demanding a comprehensive solution that would also include the adoption of a $5.9 billion 2011 spending bill.

After a meeting held at the parliament by Speaker Nabih Berri, PM Najib Miqati, and MPs Michel Aoun, Suleiman Franjieh, Mohammed Raad and Talal Arslan, Safadi was asked to prepare the draft-law for approval by the cabinet, which will later refer it to parliament.

President Michel Suleiman urged all parties on Monday to agree on the foundations that would lead to a solution to the dispute on extra-budgetary spending.

In a statement issued by Baabda palace, Suleiman said a resolution to the bickering should help state institutions continue their work in the service of the citizens.

Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun accused March 14 lawmakers on Monday of “escaping” from the parliament despite a draft-law proposed by them to legalize extra-budgetary spending made since 2006.

In remarks from parliament, Aoun said: “Minority MPs have proposed an urgent draft-law but escaped” from the session which was adjourned due to lack of quorum.

A boycott by March 14 MPs and lawmakers from MP Walid Jumblat’s National Struggle Front of a crucial parliamentary session on Monday is likely to lead to an open-ended crisis on extra-budgetary spending made in the past six years.

Speaker Nabih Berri’s office announced the adjournment of the session to March 15 over lack of quorum.

Minister of Transportation and Public Works, Ghazi al-Aridi, of the National Struggle Front stated that the bloc is counting on various political contacts in order to resolve the dispute over government spending ahead of Monday’s parliament session, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He told the daily however: “We will not attend the session if a settlement is not reached.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has snapped back at the March 14 coalition that urged him to find a comprehensive solution to the controversial extra-budgetary spending, saying the opposition should instead approve his proposal to form a joint ministerial-parliamentary committee to resolve the dispute with the March 8 forces.

In remarks published in several newspapers on Saturday, Berri said: “I improved the conditions of the success of my proposal so that it gets implemented.”

The March 14 opposition forces threw the ball of the dispute on the extra-budgetary spending in Speaker Nabih Berri’s court on Friday, saying he should resolve their differences with the March 8 coalition to avert a clash during a parliamentary session scheduled to be held on Monday.

During a press conference he held on Friday, al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora reiterated that an urgent draft-law proposed by MPs Jamal al-Jarrah and Ghazi Youssef is the only solution to resolve the dispute on the extra-budgetary spending made by different governments since 2006.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated on Thursday that the March 14 press conference scheduled for Friday will serve as the “final warning” for the March 8 camp to “cease its spiteful acts.”

He told the Central News Agency: “Strife may erupt if the dispute between the March 8 and 14 camps over government spending is not resolved.”