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Lebanon’s interim prime minister said the cabinet had voted to move the clock back one hour on Wednesday night, reversing a month-long decision to delay the move to daylight hours that had sparked unrest across the country and woke people across two time zones. Week.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday the decision was made after “calm discussions” and that the country would need 48 hours to reset operations.
Mikati angered many Lebanese when it decided last Thursday not to start daylight saving time on the last weekend of March, in line with Europe, but instead to roll back the clock by one hour on April 20.
The decision was made after a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in which Berri asked him to postpone the time change, according to footage of the meeting seen by Reuters.
This appears to be an attempt to score points among Muslims who fast until sunset during the holy month of Ramadan. Moving the clock forward means that Muslims have to fast an extra hour because the sunset will be later in the hour.
But the move was opposed by Lebanon’s top Christian authority, the Maronite church, as well as some schools, media outlets and businesses, which went into effect on Saturday night.
Mikati even faced objections from the cabinet, including the justice minister who said Lebanon had more important challenges to focus on.
The country has been without a president for five months and the ongoing financial crisis has brought most public institutions to a standstill.
Mikati mentioned the crisis in his comments on Monday.
“Let’s be clear. The problem is not winter or summer …. Instead, the problem is the vacuum at the top of the republic,” he said.
Adaptation for the second time
Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines said last week that the clock would remain on winter time but would adjust flight times to align with international schedules.
The state-run telecoms duopoly sent messages to customers advising them to manually set the time on their devices, if the clocks were already moving forward automatically.
Many say the potential chaos is emblematic of decades of failed governance by leaders that plunged Lebanon into the 2019 financial crisis, which the World Bank says was “organized” by elites.
“They are creating problems to widen the division between Muslims and Christians … those in power are those who benefit from people’s disputes,” said Mohamed al-Arab, standing on the street with his colleagues in Tariq el-Jdideh, which is predominantly Sunni. Muslim area in Beirut.
In a Beirut cafe on Saturday afternoon, a Reuters reporter heard one customer ask: “Are you going to follow the Christian or Muslim clock from tomorrow?”
Some Twitter users shared an old recording of famous Lebanese composer and musician Ziad Rahbani talking about saving the clouds.
“Every year, you put the clock forward one hour and you keep us going back 10 years,” he said, addressing Lebanese politicians.
“You have to pay attention to years, not just hours.”
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