The most senior Christian cleric in Lebanon urged President Michel Aoun to hold a reconciliation meeting with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, to form a government and end the political stalemate in the country.
And the conflicting political blocs are still unable to agree on a new government since the government resigned in the wake of the Beirut Port bombing on August 4, which made Lebanon plunge further into the economic crisis.
Tensions between Aoun and Hariri - who exchanged blame publicly last December after lack of agreement on the cabinet's make-up - came to a head last week when a leaked video clip appeared to show Aoun describing Hariri as a liar.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said in Sunday mass that "the tragic situation of the country and the people does not justify any delay in forming the government."
He added, "In this case, we hope that His Excellency the President of the Republic will take the initiative to invite the Prime Minister-designate to a meeting."
Ongoing crisis
Hariri, a veteran Sunni politician, was assigned to head the government for the fourth time last October, and he pledged to form a government of specialists to implement the reforms necessary to receive foreign aid, but political disputes have delayed the process since then.
The leaked video - which was posted on social media last week - showed Aoun talking to the caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab about Hariri.
In the video, Aoun heard saying, "There is no (government) authoring,” Attani Waraqa says, he is lying.
Sources in the president's office said that the dialogue was taken out of context and was not complete.
After the video was circulated, Hariri tweeted verses from the Bible indicating that wisdom does not reside in bodies that are docile to sin.
The deterioration of the relationship between Aoun and Hariri comes at a time when the country continues its severe financial crisis, which pushed the lira down by about 80%.