The 89-year-old Christian president of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, vacates the presidential palace on Sunday, leaving a gap at the top of a crumbling state. He presided over Lebanon's catastrophic financial collapse and the deadly Beirut port blast.
The position, which has the authority to approve government formations prior to a vote by parliament, appoint new prime ministers, and sign legislation into law, has yet to have a replacement chosen by parliament.
Since the premier-designate has been attempting to form a government for six months, Lebanon is currently run by a caretaker ministry, as it was for more than half of Aoun's term in power.
Dozens of Aoun's followers arrived at Baabda Palace to bid him farewell. They carried photographs of him both as president and as an army officer from decades past and wore the orange of his Free Patriotic Movement party.
A 73-year-old man who was still wearing the army uniform he used to fight alongside Aoun in the civil war told Reuters that he wished Aoun could serve another three years in power.
Aoun had her support since she was eight years old, according to Therese Younes, a 16-year-old who had travelled with other youngsters, and she was sad to see him go.
"I would have left the nation if I were 18 years old. After Michel Aoun, there is no longer a Lebanon, according to Younes.
Aoun is a notoriously polarising figure, loved by many Christians who saw him as their protector in Lebanon's sectarian system but accused by others of supporting corruption and assisting the militant group Hezbollah in gaining power.
The agreement establishing a maritime border between Israel and Lebanon was signed on October 27 in the office of the prime minister in Jerusalem by Israeli leader Yair Lapid.
Israel and Lebanon complete their deal on the Mediterranean border, opening up potentially abundant oil and gas reserves.
In a compromise that reinstated Saad al-Hariri as prime minister, Aoun won the presidency in 2016 with the support of Hezbollah and rival Maronite Christian politician Samir Geagea.
In the six years that followed, Hezbollah assisted the Lebanese army in its struggle against jihadist extremists on the Syrian border in 2017, a new electoral legislation was adopted in 2018, and major energy companies started exploratory drilling in offshore areas in 2020.
He agreed to a settlement defining Lebanon's southern maritime border with Israel during his final week in the palace, which was negotiated by the United States.
His supporters have praised these accomplishments, but his detractors claim that they are insignificant in light of the 2019 financial crisis, which has plunged more than 80% of the population into poverty and given rise to numerous anti-government protests.
