BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati will not resume stalled Cabinet sessions before agreement is reached on a formula to make the government productive, rather than a venue for futile bickering, government sources said Sunday.Meanwhile, a Hezbollah lawmaker criticized Mikati for suspending the Cabinet’s meetings under any pretext, saying the critical circumstances through which Lebanon was passing should not be met with a tough policy.

“The government’s work is continuing, but Cabinet sessions will remain suspended pending an agreement on a framework for a solution to the crisis. What is required is an understanding among Cabinet members on a formula to make the Cabinet productive, rather than serve as a venue for unproductive bickering and meetings,” a source close to Mikati told The Daily Star.

The source said Mikati’s decision to suspend the Cabinet’s sessions was aimed at “energizing the government’s productivity.” According to the source, so far, no contacts have been made with Mikati to agree on a solution for the crisis that could clear the way for the Cabinet to meet again.

“So far, the Cabinet has not been called [by the prime minister] to convene this week,” the source said.

Despite the suspension of the Cabinet’s sessions, Mikati will meet at the Grand Serail Monday with Energy Minister Gibran Bassil as part of the Ministerial Energy Committee formed to find a solution for the severe power cuts, the source said.

Mikati has vowed to stay in office despite sharp differences with Michel Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc over the issue of civil service appointments that led last week to the suspension of Cabinet meetings. Mikati has implicitly accused Aoun’s ministers of obstructing the Cabinet’s work, saying he will not allow anyone to undermine the prime minister’s prerogatives.

Responding to Mikati, Bassil, one of Aoun’s 10 ministers, said Sunday the premier’s prerogatives are not more important than those of any minister.

“The failure to reject any issue proposed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati must also be in reverse. The Cabinet must approve anything proposed by a minister because the prime minister is not more important than anyone with regard to prerogatives,” he told MTV.

Mikati and Aoun’s ministers have blamed each other for the Cabinet’s paralysis and its failure to act on any major issues, including the long-awaited appointments to fill hundreds of vacant posts in the public administration and diplomatic corps.

Mikati has not yet disclosed the manner in which he will resume Cabinet sessions and activate the Cabinet’s work. Sources at the Grand Serail described the situation as stagnant, saying until now no action has been taken to resolve the crisis.

The sources repeated what they have been saying since the beginning of the crisis, that there is no truth to some talk that Mikati’s decision was aimed at avoiding addressing several thorny issues, including renewing the protocol of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and sending the Lebanese Army to control the Lebanese-Syrian border on Syria’s desire, since both these issues require a Cabinet decision.

The sources ruled out developments that would lead to a Cabinet session before Mikati’s official visit to Paris Thursday. The sources stressed that Mikati wants to find a way to activate Cabinet and to ensure that all meetings held by Cabinet yield results to address people’s problems and that the government does not spend most of its time in pointless arguments among its ministers. Sources close to Aoun said no contacts had taken place between Aoun and Hezbollah or Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri or any other party on resolving the crisis. The sources expressed hope that the crisis would lead toward a final solution on the issue of appointments and there would no longer be any excuses, used by some ministers merely to oppose the Free Patriotic Movement and its allies.

They stressed that the position of the head of the Higher Judicial Council must only be from Aoun’s bloc or else there would be no solution to this issue, even if Cabinet sessions remain suspended for two years or the Cabinet is dissolved.

According to the sources, Aoun is not upset by Mikati’s decision to suspend the Cabinet sessions but is very distraught about the campaign that was waged against him on television by President Michel Sleiman through his minister Nazem Khoury. The sources said Aoun would respond harshly Tuesday following his bloc’s weekly meeting.

Ministerial sources ruled out the possibility of any progress taking place to resolve the issue before Mikati’s return from Paris and maybe even before late February when Sleiman returns from his visit to Romania.

The sources also did not rule out the possibility of an initiative being led by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai this Thursday after the Mass he will hold in the St. George Cathedral and during the lunch that Beirut Bishop Boulos Matar will hold in honor of those invited, including Sleiman, Mikati and Maronite leaders including Aoun.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad, whose party is allied with Aoun’s FPM, criticized Mikati for suspending the Cabinet’s sessions.

“Under no circumstances should someone whose role is to sponsor the Cabinet suspend the Cabinet. The critical circumstances through which the country is passing must not be met with the policy of pounding on the table, but rather with a flexible, moderate and open mentality that takes into account all political sensitivities, respects the size of political and sectarian parties and complies with norms known in the Lebanese political life,” Fayyad told a rally in the southern town of Kfar Kila.

“This stage is one that requires dealing with responsibility and avoiding minor sensitivities. Those who think there are options other than the option of this government are greatly mistaken. Therefore, the duty of all of us is to work to ensure [the Cabinet’s] success in order to solve the people’s problems and protect this country from all challenges sweeping it from all directions,” he said. Fayyad added that the size of sectarian and political parties should be taken into account by the Cabinet when it approves civil service appointments.