Michel Aoun greeting his supporters who came to cheer him on the last day of his presidential term, Sunday in Baabda. (Credit: João Sousa)
No sooner said than done. Just before his departure from the Baabda Palace, President Michel Aoun signed on Sunday the resignation decree of the caretaker government, carrying out his threat of Thursday evening, in the context of his standoff with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.Aoun’s maneuver does not carry any constitutional weight since the Mikati cabinet resigned in May.For the outgoing president, however, this is a new battle through which he hopes to regain his “opposition” to the “corrupt ruling class” of which he was — along with his son-in-law, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil — one of the main and essential players over the past six years.“This day does not mark the end of a mandate, but the beginning. This day marks the end of a stage, and the beginning of a new one, that of the strong struggle,”...
No sooner said than done. Just before his departure from the Baabda Palace, President Michel Aoun signed on Sunday the resignation decree of the caretaker government, carrying out his threat of Thursday evening, in the context of his standoff with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.Aoun’s maneuver does not carry any constitutional weight since the Mikati cabinet resigned in May.For the outgoing president, however, this is a new battle through which he hopes to regain his “opposition” to the “corrupt ruling class” of which he was — along with his son-in-law, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil — one of the main and essential players over the past six years.“This day does not mark the end of a mandate, but the beginning. This day marks the end of a stage, and the beginning of a new one, that of the...