Lebanon experiences a power vacuum with the departure of President Michael Aoun

Lebanon’s President Michael Aoun left the presidential palace on Sunday (30), a day before the end of his term, without having a designated successor, in a scenario that exacerbates the political crisis in the country, already shaken by an economic crisis.

Before leaving, however, Aoun signed a decree that eliminates the possibility of Prime Minister Najib Mikati ruling Lebanon on an interim basis. This leaves Lebanon in the unprecedented situation of having a presidential vacuum and an interim cabinet with limited powers.

The Christian president’s decision comes after the prime minister, a Sunni Muslim, spent months trying to form a government without success due to disagreements with Aoun’s party.

The president’s six-year term ends without the deputies being able to reach an agreement on his successor, putting Lebanon in a power vacuum. Aoun’s presidency was marked by economic collapse and the explosion of the port of Beirut in 2020.

Parliament has met, in vain, four times in the last month to elect a president, but neither the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah — the powerful armed movement that dominates political life in Lebanon — nor its opponents have a clear majority to impose a candidate.

In an interview with Reuters the day before his departure, Aoun said Lebanon was slipping into “constitutional chaos” given the lack of clarity over what prerogatives the interim cabinet and parliament would each have.

On Sunday, hundreds of Aoun’s supporters gathered at the presidential palace in Baabda to say goodbye, wearing the orange color associated with his party, the Free Patriotic Movement, and carrying portraits of him as president and decades ago when he served as army commander.

Since 2019, the country has been experiencing a serious financial crisis. Its currency has lost more than 95% of its value and more than 80% of the inhabitants live below the poverty line, according to United Nations data.