Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat considered on Wednesday that the priority at this “critical stage” is to seek consensus between the cabinet members to safeguard the stability of Lebanon amid the turmoil in the region.

“The current cabinet is essential to ensure stability because any other alternative would merely lead to a (political) vacuum,” Jumblat said in remarks published in As Safir newspaper.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh, amid fears of a possible collapse of Premier Najib Miqati’s government.

Jumblat told Al-Manar television that “the government’s survival is essential,” stressing that “no one has an interest in possible political vacuum in the country.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati refused on Tuesday to discuss Wednesday’s cabinet session, saying that he prefers not to comment on the issue while matters are still being studied.

He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri: “It’s normal to hold another session if quorum is not met.”

The March 8 forces are preparing for the post-Prime Minister Najib Miqati stage as Hizbullah is expected to object the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon during Wednesday’s cabinet session.

The Hizbullah leadership began over the past two weeks preparing for the post-Miqati stage, if the premier carried out his threat to resign if the funding of the STL wasn’t approved by the cabinet, sources told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

Speaker Nabih Berri held talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati in Ain el-Tineh on Tuesday to resolve the crisis threatening to collapse the cabinet.

As Safir reported that Berri, in his attempt to find consensus among the cabinet members, was tasked by the Hizbullah leadership in coordination with President Michel Suleiman to contact Miqati to find an acceptable solution by all members.

President Michel Suleiman proposed that Hizbullah not attend Wednesday’s scheduled session so that the cabinet approves the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, al-Liwaa newspaper reported.

The daily said on Monday that Suleiman is exerting efforts to resolve the crisis that is threatening to collapse the cabinet.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Monday that he isn’t worried about the fate of the cabinet, stressing that the Lebanese should resolve the crisis on their own by taking responsibility and without depending on any foreign assistance.

“The outside is busy” trying to resolve other issues, Berri told As Safir newspaper.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Saturday that a solution to the Lebanese cabinet crisis does not come through the resignation of the government but through understanding and dialogue.

At the opening of a conference organized by his Amal movement at UNESCO Palace in Beirut, Berri said: “The solution is not through the resignation of the government but through finding a solution.”

The majority of the 30-member cabinet ministers would support the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon if the issue was put up to vote during a session scheduled to be held next Wednesday, informed sources said.

The sources told al-Liwaa daily published Friday that if President Michel Suleiman decided to put the funding issue to vote, 16 or 17 ministers would vote in favor of paying Lebanon’s 49 percent share to the tribunal.

Speaker Nabih Berri is seeking consensus on the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon through contacts with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati in coordination with the March 8 leadership, As Safir newspaper reported on Friday.

The report said that Berri’s ongoing contacts with Suleiman and Miqati is to convince them to withdraw the issue of the STL from the cabinet discussions, for the time being.