Political crisis deepens in Lebanon

Baabda, Lebanon: Lebanon´s outgoing head of state, Michel Aoun, vacated the presidential palace on Sunday, cheered on by thousands of his loyal supporters, a day before his mandate expires without a designated successor.

Aoun also said he had signed a decree formalising the resignation of Najib Mikati´s caretaker government, deepening a political crisis in a country where the economy has all but collapsed. Thousand of cheering well-wishers came to pay tribute to Aoun, a Maronite Christian, former army chief and head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), which is allied with the powerful pro-Iranian movement Hizbullah.

Aoun´s six-year term was marred by mass protests, a painful economic downturn and the August 2020 mega-explosion of ammonium nitrate that killed hundreds and laid waste to swathes of Beirut.

“This morning, I sent a letter to parliament and signed a decree that considers the government resigned,” Aoun, in his late 80s, told supporters before leaving the palace in the hills above Beirut.