BEIRUT: Despite the fact that national dialogue has been stalled for over a year, representatives of rival political parties are set to meet later this month to discuss a political system that would spare the country further crises, sources told The Daily Star.

A source familiar with the talks said representatives of nine rival political parties met last month at the invitation of Common Space Initiative, a Lebanese non-governmental organization interested in dialogue and consensus building.

The source said attendees, who convened at Common Space’s Downtown Beirut headquarters, agreed to put political disputes aside and address what he called the core of Lebanon’s problems, the country’s political system.

“One of the attendees proposed that the Lebanese political system should be the major topic studied [at these talks], and this proposal was unanimously agreed upon.”

The attendees “said we don’t want to talk about current political issues, like whether the Cabinet convenes or not ... or discuss the election law, but [rather] what is the political system which will spare Lebanon further crises ... we want to address how to build a state,” he said.

The first session held in January was attended by Ali Hamdan, the media adviser of Speaker and Amal Movement head Nabih Berri, Hezbollah media official Ibrahim Mussawi, former Minister Mohammad Shatah on behalf of the Future Movement, and former Minister Salim Sayegh representing the Kataeb (Phalange) Party. Kesrouan MP Farid al-Khazen represented Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc, Mustafa Agha represented Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Rami Rayyes attended for the Progressive Socialist Party, as did Elie Khoury of the Lebanese Forces, and former minister Youssef Saade represented Zghorta MP Suleiman Franjieh’s Marada Movement.

“The importance of this meeting is that all parties are meeting in one place at a time when they officially reject dialogue,” the same source added.

The source said all parties were open-minded during the talks and agreed to begin addressing the issue of the political system in a session they agreed to hold later this month.

The NGO officials’ role, the source said, did not exceed moderating.

Another source told The Daily Star that the aim of the meetings is to maintain communication between rival political groups. “It is difficult to predict what these meetings will lead to, but all sides were positive,” he said.

President Michel Sleiman’s attempts to re-launch national dialogue sessions between rival groups have so far hit a dead end.

Opposition March 14 parties insist that if they attend official talks, Hezbollah’s arms must be the sole topic on the dialogue table. But Hezbollah and the rest of the March 8 bloc refuse to discuss the party’s arsenal and say they want to tackle a national defense strategy against potential Israeli aggression.

The last dialogue session was chaired by Sleiman in late 2010 and was boycotted by most March 8 groups over disputes related to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was established to investigate and try those who killed Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and other figures. The row culminated in the collapse of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Cabinet in January of last year.

But a third source close to the talks refused to label the meeting as a “dialogue session.”

“There is no dialogue between politicians, but between people who were invited to attend a seminar,” he said. “There is no official process with a certain aim.”