Caretaker PM and PM-designate Najib Mikati swiftly hit back Sunday at President Michel Aoun, saying that the decree that he issued to accept the caretaker cabinet’s resignation “lacks any constitutional value.”

President Michel Aoun vacated the presidential palace on Sunday, amid acclaim from his supporters, a day before his mandate expires without a designated successor, which threatens a new power vacuum in the crisis-torn country.

President Michel Aoun announced Sunday in a farewell speech in Baabda that he has signed a decree “accepting the resignation” of the caretaker cabinet, as he lashed out at the judiciary and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday bid farewell to President Michel Aoun in Sunday Mass sermon, wishing him luck and success after the end of his six-year term.

President Michel Aoun left the presidential palace in Baabda at noon Sunday amid popular rallies by his supporters and tight security measures in Baabda and across several regions.

President Michel Aoun inspected overnight supporters camping and rallying at the Baabda Palace to take part in the celebrations that will accompany the president’s departure from the palace on the occasion of the end of his term.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has called on caretaker PM and PM-designate Najib Mikati to "step down so that the president can call for immediate parliamentary consultations that lead to designating someone else" to form a new government.

President Michel Aoun announced Saturday that the formation of a new government before the end of his presidential term “seems to be impossible.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Saturday issued a stark warning over what he called an attempt to usurp the president's powers.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil held talks Friday in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, after which he warned of a domestic-foreign “plot”.

“The ultimate priority is for the election of the president, and unfortunately in a few days we will enter into presidential vacuum, which everyone is tackling as a de facto situation without exerting efforts for dialogue and understanding,” Bassil lamented, warning that keeping the caretaker cabinet amid an expected presidential void would be “adding vacuum on top of vacuum.”