Lebanon will switch to daylight saving time from Thursday, the government announced this Monday, reversing a decision to delay the change by a month, sparking confusion and protests from part of the population.
“The government has decided to keep its previous decisions related to the transition to daylight saving time (…), which will come into force on the night of Wednesday to Thursday,” Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday after a meeting of the executive branch.
The postponement decision, announced two days before the scheduled change to daylight saving time from Saturday to Sunday, drew backlash from Christian political and religious leaders and exacerbated the rift in the community in the multi-religious country.
This decision was intended to facilitate [o dia] the fast of the month of Ramadan, which lasts from sunrise to sunset, justified Mikati, lamenting the “hateful reaction of society.”
After several appeals, in particular from the Maronite Patriarch, Lebanon’s most important Christian community, part of the country refused to accept the postponement announced last week.
As a result, the country, which is already facing a deep political and economic crisis, has woken up in two time zones, causing disruptions to international flights or establishments with connections abroad, and after many countries switched to daylight saving time from last Sunday. .
The two main Christian parties, the Lebanese Forces and the Free National Current, also protested against the Prime Minister’s decision.
Mikati, the Sunni Muslim head of the outgoing cabinet, has effectively ruled the country since the end of the term of the Maronite Christian president of the republic, which expired some five months ago.
“Let’s be clear. The problem is not when it is winter or summer (…), the problem is in the vacancies for the post of the President of the Republic,” Makati stressed, urging the deputies to assume their duties and elect the president.
The deeply divided parliament has already met 11 times to try to elect a new head of state, but to no avail.
In a Middle Eastern country, and in accordance with the 1943 “national pact” whereby public functions are determined by religious criteria, the President is from the Maronite Christian community, the Speaker of Parliament is Shia Muslim, and the Prime Minister is Sunni Muslim.