BEIRUT: Most political factions in Lebanon do not care about finding a solution to the country’s garbage crisis, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Thursday, adding that he would take “the appropriate step” if no solution was implemented within days.

“Resolving the trash crisis is still facing obstacles because of bickering between political groups,” Salam told political science students from Universite Saint-Joseph who visited him at the Grand Serail. “If a radical solution is not established within the next few days I will take the appropriate measures.”

He stressed that he was still being patient with the Cabinet deadlock. “If I ever reach a dead end then I will announce my position” Salam warned. “I have said several times that there is no need for a Cabinet that cannot convene.”

“The main issue we are facing today is the trash crisis ... the majority of political powers do not care about the problem,” Salam said.

Salam stressed that if he were to resign, he would do so not to provide cover for politicians but to make them aware of the responsibilities they have toward citizens.

“If I conclude the need to abandon my duties then I will do so in order to push the political factions toward their responsibilities rather than provide cover from them.”

Salam also rejected the current nominees for the presidency. “Because choosing any candidate from among the four current nominees means the victory of one party and the breaking of the other,” he said. “Lebanon at this stage cannot withstand the victory of one party at the expense of another.”

The prime minister also voiced fears over the dismal financial situation of the nation, warning that Lebanon may soon become a failed state. “If we do not hold a legislative session soon we will lose a lot of credibility on the international level,” he cautioned.

A legislative session is required in order to endorse soft loans and grants from the World Bank. The crucial loans are at risk of being annulled by the end of the year if no such session is convened.

The sessions are also vital if public sector wages are to be paid after the month of November.

Parliament’s Secretariat will meet next Tuesday to discuss the agenda of an upcoming legislative session expected to be called for soon by Speaker Nabih Berri. The speaker’s visitors quoted him as saying Thursday that he would highlight the need to include urgent draft laws on the agenda of the session, which he said he would set for early next month.

Berri said he would propose between 40 and 50 urgent drafts from which members of the secretariat could choose to put on the agenda. He added that the members could also propose additional draft laws.

“I am eager to respect the National Pact but the legislative session should convene because the country is heading toward economic collapse,” he said.

But obstacles remain. For over a year now, Christian parties have expressed their utter refusal to attend legislative sessions in the absence of a president except for the election of a president, setting up an electoral law and a draft law allowing immigrants of Lebanese origin to attain nationality, besides other pressing laws. The parties still stick to their stances.

“We have not received any invitation to attend a legislative session,” Lebanese Forces MP Elie Keyrouz told the Central News Agency. “Our participation depends on the agenda ... It is obvious that we have priorities. especially when it comes to the electoral law and the citizenship law.”

Kataeb Party MP Fadi Habr expressed his party’s commitment to the Lebanese Constitution.

Speaking to CNA, he claimed the Constitution stipulated that in the absence of a president Parliament may only convene to elect one.

For his part, former Minister Gabi Layyoun, from MP Michel Aoun’s bloc, said his group “insists on not participating [in a session] unless the schedule includes an electoral law and a law for the attainment of citizenship.”