Lebanon Flips the Clock on Daylight Saving Time
Lebanon’s Cabinet has decided to go ahead with daylight saving time, overturning a decision made by the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to postpone the clock change by a month. The postponement was seen as a nod to the country’s Muslim population to ease the Ramadan fast. The decision caused Lebanon to be in two different time zones since Saturday night, when most of Europe moved their clocks ahead by one hour.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reportedly insisted on delaying the clock change, despite the fact that the large and influential Maronite church, along with other Christian organizations, parties, and institutions, decided to move their clocks forward on Saturday night. LBCI Lebanon and MTV Lebanon News also announced they would move the clocks forward.
The decision to move to daylight saving time will take 48 hours to implement, in order to settle technical matters such as scheduled flights and computer servers.
“The main problem is the vacancy in the presidency, and I do not take responsibility for this vacuum,” said Mikati, blaming “the political and spiritual leaders.”
Lebanon’s flip-flopping on daylight saving time has caused confusion and chaos, with different religious groups and institutions going their separate ways. The country’s leadership may have hoped to avoid sectarian conflict, but it seems they only succeeded in creating more of it.
