Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon has the right to preserve its natural resources, urging officials to speed up deals with foreign companies to drill for oil and gas in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Berri reiterated to As Safir newspaper that neighboring countries will soon start oil and gas exploration.

The joint parliamentary committees on Monday postponed discussions on the electricity plan to Wednesday, following verbal clashes between the rival March 8 and March 14 MPs.

The draft law will likely be put to a vote during Wednesday’s session, MTV reported.

Speaker Nabih Berri will most probably refer the electricity draft law to parliament for approval on Thursday despite the failure of the joint parliamentary committees to approve the controversial $1.2 billion bill, his sources said.

The sources told As Safir daily that the next meeting of the committees on Monday will be the last no matter what results the MPs reach. Berri could call for a parliamentary session next Thursday to approve the bill, they said.

Lebanese leaders have reached an “implicit understanding” to fund the international tribunal after receiving Western warnings about possible sanctions if Lebanon rejects to pay its share of funds, An Nahar daily reported Friday.

The newspaper said that President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Premier Najib Miqati have been informed by Western officials that any procrastination in the payment of Lebanon’s share would expose it to sanctions that could target its banking sector.

The joint parliamentary committees discussed on Thursday the draft law on the electricity project that was referred to parliament following a cabinet approval last week.

The draft law includes only two articles. The first allows the government to begin the implementation of the project before receiving the funds from the state budget and the second calls for the implementation of the law upon its publication in the official gazette.

The drivers’ union suspended its nationwide strike that was scheduled to be held on Thursday after reaching a late-night deal with Prime Minister Najib Miqati for the finance ministry to begin receiving the requests of fuel subsidy payments starting Monday.

The strike was aimed at protesting the government’s failure to deliver on a monthly LL400,000 fuel subsidy promised in May. Public drivers were seeking to hold the strike between 6:00 am and 12:00 pm.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed the importance of finalizing the electricity project to solve the issue that is affecting the citizen’s livelihood.

He declared during Wednesday’s parliamentary meeting that a parliament session will be held as soon as possible to discuss and adopt the project after the concerned committees complete their work.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat denied that he has asked to meet with Syria President Bashar Assad although informed sources said that Damascus froze its ties with the PSP chief.

In remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Jumblat said he hasn’t asked for a meeting with Assad or Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Speaker Nabih Berri expressed discontent on Tuesday over the violent verbal attack against Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi by the March14-led opposition.

“His eminence realizes what’s happening in Syria and the region, and his only aim is to protect the Christians and all the Lebanese,” Berri told An Nahar newspaper.

Tensions between the Mustaqbal movement, Speaker Nabih Berri, and their respective allies have persisted in the wake of the Mustaqbal daily’s publication of a WikiLeaks cable in which the speaker encouraged attacks against Hizbullah during the July 2006 war.

On this note, former minister Mohammed Abdul Hamid Beydoun called on Berri to resign seeing as the leaked U.S. Embassy cable revealed that he “says one thing and does the opposite on the exact same day.”