BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement head MP Michel Aoun said Tuesday he has been notified of Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ intention to resign and is considering whether to give Nahhas the green light to proceed.

“The decision to endorse his [seeking] to resign is still in my hands and when the resignation is sent to the government, it means we [the Change and Reform bloc] have accepted it,” Aoun told reporters after his weekly meeting with the bloc in Rabieh.

“I have received the resignation and resolving this matter is up to the government and not me,” he added.

In response to reporters’ questions, Aoun said that if the bloc approved Nahhas’ decision to resign then his replacement would need to be from the Free Patriotic Movement.

Otherwise, “we would be faced with a similar Cabinet crisis,” Aoun warned.

Sources close to Aoun's bloc told The Daily Star Tuesday that Nahhas would likely resign from his post in Cabinet rather than sign a divisive transportation allowance decree.

The sources said the resignation would likely be announced following the weekly Change and Reform meeting headed by Aoun.

Earlier in the day, Nahhas had placed the fate of his future as a minister at the discretion of Aoun, the latter's media office said.

Nahhas has been at the center of a political storm since last month, when he refused to sign a Cabinet decree officially approving a transportation allowance, arguing that it should be ratified by Parliament first. However, he did sign the decree containing Cabinet’s decision to raise the minimum wage.

Nahhas was expected to sign the decree before Wednesday's Parliament session in a bid to revive the work of the Cabinet.

Parliament is expected to vote on two draft laws Wednesday, one prepared by Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kanaan and another by Future Movement MP Nabil de Freij, which would authorize the Cabinet to set transportation and education allowances. If agreement is reached on either proposal, this could open the way to a full resumption of Cabinet work.

President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati have agreed to call for a Cabinet session this week if Nahhas signs the decree governing transportation allowance, As-Safir reported Tuesday.

Quoting official sources, the daily said that the session would be a regular one in which ministers would agree on principles and a mechanism that would guarantee harmony and a productive Cabinet.

“The first issue to be discussed is administrative appointments,” the sources said.

Mikati has hinted that he would resume Cabinet sessions were Nahhas to sign the decree. The prime minister suspended Cabinet on Feb.1 after a dispute with Aoun's ministers over civil service appointments.

Sources told The Daily Star Monday that Mikati would withdraw the two draft laws from Parliament if Nahhas failed to sign the decree.

Ministers close to Mikati have argued that one minister’s failure to abide by a Cabinet decision could set a dangerous precedent.

Earlier Monday, Mikati discussed the crisis during a meeting with Sleiman, who is expected to travel to Romania next Wednesday, at Baabda Palace. Sleiman and Mikati reviewed “the current developments and the question of reviving the Cabinet's work, in addition to a number of other issues,” the state-run National News Agency reported.