BEIRUT: Dialogue is critical in resolving disputed matters between the country’s rival political factions, Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat said Thursday, as he reiterated that the March 14 coalition would not accept Hezbollah’s arms as legitimate.

“It is important to continue dialogue on a permanent basis to discuss the controversial national issues,” Fatfat told a local radio station.

“But, the opposition cannot give in and accept the existence of illegitimate weapons that challenge Lebanon's security every day.”

Talk of the possibility of relaunching dialogue has resurfaced in recent days after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced he would meet President Michel Sleiman to discuss the proposal. Sleiman has repeatedly called for the revival of the dialogue to bridge the cap between lawmakers, but his calls went unheeded.

The head of the Future Movement Parliamentary block, MP Fouad Siniora, met before Wednesday’s parliamentary session with Berri.

Berri told As-Safir newspaper in an article published Thursday that he had suggested to Siniora the possibility that Future Movement join national dialogue. In return, Siniora told the daily newspaper that there were prerequisites that should be agreed upon before rival politicians meet.

“Hezbollah’s arms should have priority in any new dialogue followed by a discussion of defense strategy not the opposite way around,” Siniora was quoted as saying.

March 14 lawmakers, including former Prime Minister Saad Hariri have voiced skepticism about the proposed dialogue. They insist that Hezbollah’s arsenal should be the only topic for discussion as a condition of their participation.

“Siniora is waiting for answers from the other party regarding conditions [for dialogue] previously agreed upon and ways to implement them so he can begin his consultations and respond to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's request for dialogue,” Fatfat said.

Hezbollah has maintained that the issue of its arms are not up for debate, and says it holds the tripartite formula of the “the people, the army, and the resistance” to be the only means to protect the country.

The last session of dialogue was held in late 2010 and was boycotted by most March 8 leaders amid mounting divisions between the March 8 and March 14 coalitions over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The dispute led eventually to the collapse of Hariri’s Cabinet on Jan. 12.