A “silent” crisis lingering since April between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has exploded in public as the two men indirectly traded corruption accusations, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The crisis began first in April when Hariri supported the so-called qualification “sectarian” parliamentary electoral law, proposed by Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, which Jumblat criticized as a format that marginalizes his role and the Druze community, said the daily.

The Marada Movement has raised concerns of vacuum at the legislative authority and accused the Free Patriotic Movement of driving the country into vacuum and having the parliamentary elections staged based on the controversial majoritarian 1960 law, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

“The FPM is seeking vacuum despite its repeated assertions that it is not. Its deeds indicate so far a desire to turn to the 1960 law,” Marada sources told the daily on condition of anonymity.

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated on Wednesday rejection of any attempt to reallocate parliamentary seats from one electoral district to another, pointing out that he would call for another extraordinary parliament session if the June 5 meeting fails to convene, al-Joumhouria daily reported.

Countdown towards an agreement on a new voting system has reportedly begun, as attention turns to an official annual Ramadan banquet hosted by President Michel Aoun at the Presidential Palace on Thursday, after a 4-year break, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

“Aoun has invited top Lebanese officials to an Iftar including Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Speaker Nabih Berri, Muslim and Christian religious authorities, former Presidents and PMs, ministers, deputies, military and security leaders, economic and social bodies and others,” well-informed sources told the daily.

Lebanon's ministry of economy is seeking to ban the 2017 Wonder Woman movie because its lead actress — Gal Gadot — is an Israeli, though a formal request for a ban has not yet been received, a Lebanese security official said Tuesday.

A ban would require a recommendation from a six-ministry-member committee, a process that also has not yet began, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad said there were many reasons to be optimistic about prospects to agree on a new electoral law, mainly that discussions focus on a full proportional representation vote law format, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Hizbullah and the Syrian Army have reportedly attacked military vehicles for al-Nusra Front militant group in the outskirts of the town of Flita in the Syrian Qalamoun region killing and wounding several, Hizbullah's al-Manar TV said on Tuesday

The TV said: “Several Nusra militants were killed and others were wounded when Hizbullah and the Syrian army fired guided missiles at posts controlled by al-Nusra in Flita.”

The country's constitution gives the President powers to open an extraordinary legislative session, thus rendering calls by other political parties “invalid,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

As political parties trade jibes over jurisdictions to open an extraordinary legislative session, Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan stressed that President Michel Aoun has the authority in line with Article 31 of the Constitution.

President Michel Aoun received French Ambassador Emmanuel Bonne at the Presidential Palace in Baabda who came on a farewell visit ending his two-year service in Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Monday.