BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri Saturday said the answer to the country’s crisis does not lie in the government’s resignation and urged lawmakers to reach a consensus to resolve Lebanon’s pressing issues.

“The solution does not lie in the resignation of the government, but in continuing to find a solution, and Lebanon will be preserved through mutual understanding,” Berri said during his opening speech at Amal Movement’s first national general conference.

Berri’s remarks come after nine ministers from the MP Michel Aoun’s bloc boycotted a Cabinet session Friday protesting what they describe as the government’s poor performance.

The boycott is seen as a message to Prime Minister Najib Mikati who earlier warned he would resign from his post if the Cabinet blocks funding for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, something staunchly rejected by Hezbollah and its allies, who hold a majority in the government.

Berri, who has been working to revive national dialogue among rival lawmakers with the help of President Michel Sleiman, said that no politician in the country has the power to veto national issues.

“Experiences [in Lebanon] have proved that no one can have a veto on national resolutions. Mutual understanding requires [politicians] to gather on a table for dialogue under the auspices of the president to reach a consensus on where we differ,” he said.

The head of the Amal Movement also addressed rival politicians, saying that Lebanon’s stability is not only the responsibility of the government but also the opposition.

“No one can escape the responsibility towards the crisis that we are facing ... or arrange priorities to suit their interest,” he said, urging lawmakers to preserve the country against what is happening in the region.

The prime minister and the president have put themselves in opposition to Hezbollah’s view on the funding, repeatedly saying that Lebanon should commit to its international obligations primarily the ones related to the U.N.-backed court.

Under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1757, Lebanon is obligated to pay 49 percent of the tribunal’s annual budget which for the year 2011 amounted to $36 million. The court, based in The Hague, has indicted four members of Hezbollah of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Berri also repeated his warning that events in Syria would affect the country, adding that Lebanon should remain neutral during such events, in defense of the government’s recent actions in the Arab League, when it voted against the suspension of Syria.

“This matter requires us not to be a thorn in Syria's side and the region because then Lebanon would be the one most in pain,” Berri said.

Echoing the words of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Berri said that events in Syria are partly due to the U.S.’s desire to divert attention from its withdrawal from Iraq.

“I do not mean to scare the Lebanese, but everyone needs to realize that Lebanon is a mirror reflecting what the region is now,” he added.

The speaker, who has been in his post for almost 19 years, thanked the U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon for their work and assistance to various municipalities in the south.