Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb announced Thursday that he has agreed with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to seek “new ideas” in approaching the presidential vote.

“The meeting was an occasion to exchange ideas on the means to confront the coming period, after the (parliament's) failure to hold the presidential vote” on Wednesday, Harb told reporters after meeting Jumblat in Clemenceau.

For the second day in a row, the French capital continued to be the meeting place for talks on the presidential elections, as former Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday.

A statement issued by Hariri's office said that the meeting started at 7:30 pm at the residence of al-Mustaqbal Movement's head in Paris, and that both men discussed the latest developments in the country, and on top of them the presidential race.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari ruled out the possibility of an agreement between the Mustaqbal Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement over the election of FPM chief MP Michel Aoun as president, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Tuesday.

He told the daily: “The only good thing to come out of such an agreement would be the elimination of Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat's role as a swing vote at parliament.”

The Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc will attend Wednesday's parliamentary session to elect a president.

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat stressed after a meeting for the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc in Clemenceau that it will be present at all sessions to elect a new head of state.

The Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc has announced that withdrawing MP Henri Helou from the presidential race "is out of the question at this time," as the latter admitted that Wednesday's electoral session will not be held due to lack of quorum.

In an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper to be published Monday, Helou said: “My nomination came from the National Struggle Front bloc which I belong to after talks and consultations, and this is something normal.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat urged al-Mustaqbal movement chief Saad Hariri to return to Lebanon soon as “there are no excuses that could justify his absence.”

“I call on Hariri to return and head an all-embracing cabinet (after the election of a new president) to avert further tension and crises,” Jumblat said in an interview with As Safir newspaper.

Lawmakers failed to elect a new president on Wednesday, the result of rivalry between the March 8 and 14 camps as no candidate was able to garner the needed two-thirds of votes to become Lebanon's next head of state.

Speaker Nabih Berri chaired the session at noon Wednesday after 124 MPs attended it, securing the required two-thirds quorum.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday announced the revival of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc and the nomination of its member MP Henri Helou for the presidency, one day before a parliamentary session aimed at voting for a new president.

“The Democratic Gathering has been revived with all its members and we're one family again,” Jumblat said after a meeting in Clemenceau.

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc led by MP Michel Aoun announced Tuesday that it will cast blank votes in Wednesday's presidential election.

"We have decided to take part in Wednesday's session and we will cast blank votes," MP Emile Rahme said, reciting a terse statement issued after the bloc's weekly meeting in Rabieh.

A high-level Free Patriotic Movement delegation visited MP Walid Jumblat on Monday at his Clemenceau residence, on the eve of the first round of the presidential election.

The delegation comprised Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and MP Naji Gharios. The envoys declined to make a statement after the meeting.