Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday threw his support behind Prime Minister Tammam Salam, after civil society demonstrators called for the premier's resignation in protest at the excessive force that was used against them on Saturday.

“We reiterate our full support for PM Tammam Salam, who showed once again in his press conference his level of wisdom, vision, patience and responsibility – characteristics that we are in dire need for amid these critical circumstances in Lebanon and the region,” said Jumblat in his weekly editorial in the PSP's al-Anbaa newspaper.

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat denounced the “barbaric” behavior that the security forces used in confronting Wednesday's protests of the You Stink campaign, assuring that the demonstrations are “righteous.”

“The protests carried out by some youth in downtown Beirut are legal and righteous, but the barbaric way used to disperse them are strongly rejected and condemned,” said Jumblat via twitter on Friday.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is expected to call for a cabinet session next week for “refusing to give up to paralysis,” his sources said Friday.

The sources quoted Salam as saying that “giving up to the logic of paralysis” is not part of his “dictionary.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has warned that the state would “collapse” if Baabda Palace remained vacant and the cabinet crisis was not solved, As Safir daily reported on Thursday.

“I have told Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that (Tehran's) lauding of the (Lebanese) government and its head should be interpreted with bringing a consensual president or else Lebanon would collapse and be destroyed,” Salam said, according to As Safir.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has said that he discussed with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun ways to resolve the cabinet crisis.

“The door is not closed. There is a possibility to find a solution,” Ibrahim told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Thursday.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam reiterated on Wednesday that he was giving consultations on the cabinet crisis more time before calling for a session.

He said he is “still looking for a solution.” That's why he “procrastinated on inviting the government for a session this week.”

The speeches of Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah followed by the speech of his ally Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun “could herald a momentum towards a solution to the paralysis governing the country,” well informed sources told the daily As Safir on Saturday.

“The speech of Hizbullah leader that was followed by Aoun's TV appearance on al-Manar can form an impetus towards a solution rather than a new problem,” said the sources on condition of anonymity.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat reportedly rejects raising the retirement age of senior security officers that was recently proposed by General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, said As Safir newspaper on Friday.

He told the daily: “Such a suggestion would incur major strains on the treasury.”

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat have discussed ways to “remove the obstacles” facing state institutions, Hariri's press office announced on Thursday.

The statement said the meeting took place at Hariri's residence in France on Wednesday night.

The head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, MP Fouad Saniora, has rejected an initiative launched by General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to raise the retirement age of the army and security officers for three years.

“I knew that there is madness but I didn't think for a second that we would reach a stage of beyond madness,” Saniora told As Safir newspaper published on Monday.