BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri warned Wednesday of “public outrage” if current efforts by joint parliamentary committees failed to agree on a new electoral law to replace the 1960 voting system. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri is expected to deliver an important speech during an iftar banquet this week during which he will outline the Future Movement’s position on latest local and regional developments, Future sources said.

Hariri will host iftars at his Beirut residence for Muslim and Christian religious leaders Thursday, and for Arab ambassadors Friday, a Future source told The Daily Star. The source said that Hariri will deliver a keynote political speech at the BIEL complex Saturday when he addresses the Future Movement’s officials and supporters during an iftar.

Hariri’s expected speech comes exactly a week after Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk caused a political stir in the country with his declaration that Britain, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia had played key roles in the nomination of MP Sleiman Frangieh for the presidency. Machnouk also said in a TV interview that the “former Saudi policy” had pushed Hariri to travel to Damascus in 2010 “to adopt a conciliatory stance with the Syrian regime.”

The British and Saudi embassies in Beirut have refuted Machnouk’s claims that their countries were behind Frangieh’s nomination for the presidency.

“[Former] premier Saad Hariri will address in his speeches during the Ramadan iftars the regional situation and reaffirm the principles with regard to internal matters, including the Taif Accord, commitment to the Constitution, coexistence, the democratic system and rotation of power,” Future MP Ammar Houri told Asharq radio station.

Hariri will also touch on security issues and the need to elect a president and reactivate state institutions, Houri said.

Berri warned of “street [public] outrage if no agreement is reached on a new law for elections and the 1960 law, which does not fulfill the aspirations of the Lebanese for true representation, stayed in place,” MPs who saw Berri during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at his Ain al-Tineh residence told reporters. Berri, according to the MPs, renewed his “absolute rejection” of the extension of Parliament’s mandate under any pretext, while stressing that parliamentary elections should be held.

Berri’s warning came a day after the joint parliamentary committees failed to reach consensus on a new electoral law and decided to refer the thorny issue to rival political leaders who are scheduled to meet in a new national dialogue session at Ain al-Tineh on June 21.

The committees’ move cast gloom over the lawmakers’ ability to agree on a new voting system to replace the controversial 1960 law, which called for electoral districts to be based on the qadas, or constituents. The committees’ next meeting, originally set for Thursday, was pushed to June 22, a day after the dialogue session.

“The joint committees’ meetings reached a standstill. Everyone will have to bear their responsibilities at the upcoming national dialogue,” Berri was quoted as saying by local newspapers.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari, who chaired the committees’ deliberations, said after meeting Berri Wednesday that the best vote law would be the hybrid system, as it is a middle ground between those who want proportional representation and those who are calling for a majoritarian one.

“I briefed the speaker on the differences facing us in the joint parliamentary committees in the discussion of a hybrid electoral law,” Makari said.

The country’s major Christian parties, complaining of what they view as a lack of true Christian representation in Parliament, have long demanded a new electoral law to replace the 1960 vote law which is based on 26 districts and a winner-take-all system.

The committees’ deliberations have centered meetings on two hybrid proposals that call for a proportional voting system as well as the present winner-take-all formula. One proposal was presented by Berri’s bloc and the other was put forward by the Future Movement, the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party.

The Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri said he was baffled by Machnouk’s recent comments on the Saudi policy. Machnouk’s remarks were “totally unwarranted,” he said in an interview with the Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal (Economy and Business) magazine.

Asiri said he met with Machnouk Sunday, but refused to give details about his meeting. “His excellency the minister explained his point of view, but it is not for publication. I will convey it to officials in the kingdom,” he said.

The Saudi envoy said that Machnouk assured him that his remarks represented him personally and had nothing to do with Hariri.

Asiri rejected claims that MP Michel Aoun’s presence at a dinner he hosted at his Yarze residence last month was an indication of Saudi support for the Free Patriotic Movement founder for the presidency. “The kingdom did not and will intervene to choose the Lebanese president because this is the right and duty of the Lebanese alone,” he said.

Commenting on the Saudi decision in February to halt $4 billion in grants to the Lebanese Army and security forces, Asiri said: “[The aid] has been canceled and its page has been turned.”

Meanwhile, the Cabinet will meet Thursday amid lingering differences among ministers over the controversial Janna Dam project, a source close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam said.

There are some 61 items on the Cabinet agenda, including the Janna Dam and tenders for the Burj Hammoud and Costa Brava landfills, the source told The Daily Star. The Cabinet has failed to settle Janna project issue in the past two sessions.

The ministers are split over the dam project. While the ministers from the Free Patriotic Movement, Hezbollah and MP Walid Jumblatt’s bloc support the project, ministers from the Future Movement and the Kataeb Party and Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb oppose it for environmental reasons.

Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel had warned of taking action against the dam if works on it continued.