BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri met Wednesday with MP Walid Jumblatt and Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel as part of his wide flurry of consultations to hasten the election of a president, as Speaker Nabih Berri maintained that a full-package deal is the only way to end the power vacuum.

In the meantime, Parliament failed for the 45th time to elect a president over a lack of quorum, prompting Berri to schedule a new session for Oct. 31. It was a clear sign that a solution to the presidential deadlock, now in its third year, does not appear to be imminent.

Hariri met with Jumblatt at his Downtown Beirut residence Wednesday night, with talks centering on how to end the vacuum in the country’s top Christian position with two main rival candidates vying for the post: MP Michel Aoun and Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh.

Jumblatt did not speak to reporters after the meeting, which was also attended by Health Minister Wael Abu Faour and Hariri’s adviser, former MP Ghattas Khoury.

Hariri and Jumblatt discussed current political developments and talks continued at a dinner hosted by Hariri for the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, a terse statement issued by Hariri’s media office said.

Later, Jumblatt tweeted that he supported Berri’s proposed package deal to break the presidential impasse and called for the resumption of national dialogue sessions, which were indefinitely suspended by Berri earlier this month.

Earlier in the day, Hariri discussed the presidential deadlock with Gemayel at the Kataeb Party’s headquarters in the Beirut area of Saifi shortly after the failed Parliament session to elect a president.

Neither Hariri nor Gemayel spoke to reporters after the meeting.

“Discussions centered on the presidential election and the possible prospects for overcoming the current crisis,” a statement issued by Gemayel’s media office said.

The meeting was attended by Kataeb MP Samer Saadeh, Kataeb Party Vice President Salim Sayegh, and Hariri’s advisers Khoury and Hani Hammoud.

The participants later headed to the mountain town of Bikfaya where they had lunch hosted by former President Amine Gemayel.

Hariri had met Monday with Frangieh at the latter’s summer residence in the northern town of Bneshaai, unleashing a slew of consultations with top leaders aimed at ending the presidential vacuum.

Hariri’s return to Beirut Saturday after spending nearly two months abroad has revived hopes for breaking the presidential stalemate, which has thrown the executive and legislative arms of power into paralysis.

Hariri’s calls on various leaders, which are set to include visits to Berri and Aoun, come amid rising media and political speculation that Frangieh’s presidential chances have receded in favor of Aoun’s bid.

Frangieh is backed for the presidency by Berri, Hariri, Jumblatt and some independent lawmakers, while Aoun is supported by Hezbollah and some of its March 8 allies and the Lebanese Forces.

For his part, Berri stood firm on his position that a “full-package” deal, which includes the election of a president, an agreement on a new voting system and the shape of the government, is the only solution to the deadlock.“Reaching an agreement on a host of understandings is the way to an integrated solution, which begins with the presidency,” Berri was quoted as saying by a number of MPs during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at his Beirut residence in Ain al-Tineh.

Berri, according to the MPs, said he did not have anything to say so far on the presidency and the ongoing flurry of activity to resolve the crisis.

Berri’s proposed package deal, which was discussed at national dialogue sessions, has been rejected by the Future bloc and other groups.

The speaker set a new Parliament session to elect a president for Oct. 31 after the legislature was unable to convene due to a lack of quorum. Wednesday’s was the 45th session in more than two years that failed to reach quorum in order to choose a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year mandate ended in May 2014.

Only 51 lawmakers showed up in Parliament, falling far short of the two-thirds majority (86) of the 128 MPs required to secure a quorum.

Most of the attendees were from the Future bloc and the March 14 coalition, while lawmakers from Aoun’s bloc, Hezbollah’s bloc and some of their March 8 allies maintained their boycott of the sessions.

“Had today’s session been held, we would have elected MP Sleiman Frangieh as president,” Minister of State for Administrative Reform Nabil de Freij, who belongs to the Future bloc, told reporters in Parliament. “The Future bloc has not so far nominated MP Michel Aoun [for the presidency].”

“Whatever Hariri decides, we will abide by it,” Future Bloc MP Atef Majdalani told reporters.

Former Minister Youssef Saadeh from the Marada Movement said that Hariri still supported Frangieh for president for now.

“We are continuing with Frangieh’s candidacy for the presidency. He is a serious and real candidate for the presidency,” Saadeh told MTV.

“We are ready to withdraw [Frangieh’s] candidacy if a broad national consensus is reached on a Maronite figure, be it MP Michel Aoun or another one,” he said.

Future MP Ahmad Fatfat sounded downbeat about Hariri’s consultations being able to break the deadlock soon. He ruled out any compromise over the presidency because of the escalating military conflict in Syria.

“I don’t think [Hariri’s] consultations will bear fruit. … I don’t expect a [positive] development for a very important reason, which is that we don’t live isolated in Lebanon. We live in this region and in this region, namely what is happening in Syria, it’s not a climate of compromises,” Fatfat told reporters after meeting Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian.

“We must maintain calm at present because I don’t really see compromises within the next few days.”

LF deputy chief MP George Adwan said following the failed Parliament session that his party is counting on Hariri’s initiative, calling on Hezbollah to exert efforts to convince March 8 parties to back Aoun.

“We appreciate the consultations made by [former] Prime Minister Hariri with the aim of finding a solution and understanding on the presidency. All of us know that the Lebanese are left to decide their own fate. It is clear that this decision [on the presidency] will be a Lebanese decision,” Adwan said.