Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Monday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.

Al-Akhbar: Karami guests: Far from greetings

Government consultations kick off Monday over the [controversial] electricity issue with Prime Minister Najib Mikati to hold a series of talks in this respect.

Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas held talks over the weekend to discuss the electricity bill, but without reaching a positive result.

Minister Ali Hasan Khalil and Hezbollah secretary-general’s political aide, Hussein Khalil, will meet National Struggle Front leader [Walid Jumblatt] in an effort to find out what his demands were to give his approval to the electricity bill. 

Mikati, however, vowed Sunday to “provide electricity to homes, and that the government will stay.” His remarks came following a meeting with Omar Karami in Tripoli. Mikati was accompanied with Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi.

It was the first meeting between Mikati and Karami since Mikati’s protocol visits to former prime ministers after he was entrusted to form a new government on Jan. 25. It was the first meeting between Karami and Safadi in a long time.

Mikati cources told Al-Akhbar that the visit comes in the framework of strengthening ties with Karami, pointing out that Mikati, who "did not make it to a recent iftar held by Karami, saw that the visit was aimed at making up for not attending the iftar, check on Karami’s well-being and congratulate him on Eid al-Fitr. "

For his part, when Al-Akhbar asked Karami about whether he believed the meeting fell within the framework of Tripoli’s unity, he replied: "We cannot say that. There is a party absent and that party is the Future Movement, and in its absence we can not be talking about the unity of the city. We can describe the meeting [as a bid] to promote communication between us.”

Not far from Karami’s residence, a meeting took place at Akkar MP Khaled Daher’s mansion that was attended by lawmakers Ahmad Fatfat, Mohammad Kabbara, Moeen Merhebi, Kazem al-Kheir and former MP Mustafa Alloush and Sheikh Zakaria al-Masri. Absent from the meeting - which came in a show of support for Daher - were Daher’s fellow Akkar lawmakers (except for Merhebi). The visitors affirmed their support for Daher in “the face of accusations directed against him.”

Al-Liwaa: Jumblatt urges Sleiman to drop proportional representation … Mikati visits Karami

Electricity [issue]: No progress as Aoun sticks to his demands

Syria remained the center of attention for the Lebanese and Arabs. This time as Lebanon revoked its recognition of the statement issued by the Arab League which urged Syrian authorities to respond to the Syrian people’s political and social demands without mention to what Damascus describes as “armed terrorist gangs,” which prompted Syria to consider the statement as baseless and closing the door on Arab League leader Nabil El-Araby who was tasked by the Arab League to visit Damascus to seek a solution.

As eyes were turned to the formulas being exchanged to contain differences that turned out to be not just between lawmakers Michel Aoun and Walid Jumblatt, but other parties from within and outside Cabinet, Lebanon’s position in the Arab League has imposed an additional item on the political and diplomatic agenda, which U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly had previously raised with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who heads to Damascus Monday. Connelly has failed to persuade Mansour not to oppose the Arab League stance on Syria.

Mansour said the Arab League meeting ended around 2:10 a.m. Sunday (Beirut time) after which Arab ministers left. “I, too, returned to Beirut only to be surprised by the secretariat's statement, and I wanted to explain that something happened in the shape [of the statement] and this clarification was not related to the Syrian position.”

Information made available to Al-Liwaa uncovered that contacts held in Beirut upon Mansour’s arrival led to revoking Lebanon’s position of the Arab League statement.

No dramatic progress has been made on the electricity issue, except an announcement by Mikati that the “government will stay and will provide electricity.”

According to information, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas was tasked with holding talks with the concerned parties in an effort to find a solution to the electricity dispute. Sources said contacts so far have been positive, adding that consensus is expected to be reached before a Cabinet meeting scheduled for Sept. 7 that would guarantee the survival of the government and without withdrawal of Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun's ministers.

Other reports, however, said no progress has been made on the electricity issue, pointing to remarks attributed to Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, who said the government would have full powers to monitor the electricity plan and that quitting Cabinet remains a possibility.

Meanwhile, President Michel Sleiman visited MP Walid Jumblatt in Mukhtara and discussed the likelihood of relaunching national dialogue among other political issues.

Well-informed sources said a proportional representation system for the [2013] parliamentary elections was the focal point of discussions in which Jumblatt urged Sleiman to drop the issue from deliberations. 

Al-Mustaqbal: Meeting in solidarity with Daher in Tripoli as Harb insists Bassil’s [electricity] plan lacks details, transparency

Sept. 7: electricity plan under government supervision

Al-Mustaqbal has learned that the controversial electricity issue will be settled during the Sept. 7 Cabinet meeting on the basis of a proposal to be approved by Slieman and the government in addition to Jumblatt which stipulates that the “government and not ministers” is in charge.

Sources added that several questions must be answered by Energy Minister Jibran Bassil: Does he want to import gas, diesel or fuel oil for the plan? Also, he needs to determine which party will oversee and run the project?

Bassil, however, insisted that “the possibility of walking out of the government is still an option, and that the government has to pass the electricity bill since it is mentioned in the ministerial statement.”

Separately, as the March 14 coalition prepared to take steps to confront the policy of maliciousness and blackmail on the one hand, Future Movement Secretary-General Ahmad Hariri responded to remarks made by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s recent remarks, saying: “We don’t care to convince you about what we know … our concern is to convince the Lebanese of all sects that justice, by ending impunity, is the way to independence, and to the rule of law.”

In turn, MP Butros Harb described Bassil’s plan as “blackmail.”

“Bassil has requested $1.2 billion to provide electricity as part of an overall plan worth more than $5 billion. We do not object to the spending provided it has been clearly studied and put under transparent control,” Harb said.