Lebanon President Leaves With No Replacement, Crisis Deepens

Lebanese President Michel Aoun waves for his supporters during a speech to his supporters gathered outside the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on Oct. 30, 2022. Bilal Hussein/AP Photo

BEIRUT—President Michel Aoun left Lebanon’s presidential palace Sunday, marking the end of his six-year term without a replacement, leaving the small nation in a political vacuum that is likely to worsen its historic economic meltdown.

As Aoun’s term ends, the country is being run by a caretaker government after Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati failed to form a new Cabinet following May 15 parliamentary elections. Aoun and his supporters warn that such a government doesn’t have full power to run the country, saying that weeks of “constitutional chaos” lay ahead.