Lebanon's complex new electoral law, which is based on proportional representation for the first time in the country's history, reflects “the true will of citizens,” President Michel Aoun announced on Wednesday.

“The parliamentary elections will be held on time according to a new electoral system that reflects the true will of citizens,” Aoun told a French Senate delegation.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday insisted that the upcoming parliamentary elections will be held on time and that he would confront any attempt to postpone the polls.

“Some are trying to raise and stir some dilemmas” regarding the electoral law's technicalities and implementation, Berri told lawmakers during the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting, while stressing that the perceived attempts will not manage to thwart the elections.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea held meetings in Maarab with LF cadres in the Jbeil area where talks highlighted the preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections noting that the party's candidate for the Maronite seat, Ziad Hawat, is widely accepted in Jbeil, the National News Agency said on Wednesday.

The meeting was held in the presence of LF Executive Committee member Elie Bragid, Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs Joseph Abu Joudeh and LF coordinator of the Jbeil region Charbel Abi Akel, NNA said.

A man set himself on fire near the UN refugees center in the northern city of Tripoli, the State-run National News Agency reported.

President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier will visit Lebanon between January 29 and 31, accompanied by his wife and an official delegation at the invitation of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, the Presidency's media office announced on Wednesday.

The German president will hold talks with Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri on the general situation and ways to strengthen and develop the Lebanese-German relations in all fields, added the statement.

An Israeli spy device was discovered on Wednesday in southern Lebanon, state-run National News Agency reported.

Speaker Nabih Berri expressed concerns that the purpose of proposing amendments to the new complex electoral law is to thwart the upcoming parliamentary elections, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc announced Tuesday that Prime Minister Saad Hariri is not concerned with media reports about “mediations, meetings or suggestions” regarding the ongoing spat between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri.

“The bloc discussed the row resulting from the decree pertaining to the officers who graduated in 1994 as well as the ongoing contacts and consultations that are aimed at halting political bickering over it,” Mustaqbal said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

A ministerial panel tasked with studying the implementation of the complex new electoral law on Tuesday failed to reach an agreement on so-called polling megacenters where voters can cast ballots away from their hometowns.

“No agreement was reached on the issue of megacenters, seeing as some support their establishment while others do not want them,” State Minister Ali Qansou of the Syrian Social National Party said after the meeting.

The Israeli army overnight carried out air strikes and fired rockets at targets in Syria, causing damage near a military position, the Syrian army said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the air strikes targeted Syrian army and Hizbullah weapon depots.