Gov’t Decision to Delay Daylight Savings Puts Lebanon in Two Time Zones
Asharq ALMar 27, 2023
Lebanese caretaker PM Najib Mikati on Monday reversed his decision to delay daylight savings time in Lebanon until the end of the holy month of Ramadan, announcing that clocks would go forward by one hour overnight on Wednesday after confusion engulfed the country.
Usually, Lebanon enters daylight savings on the last Sunday in March, which aligns with most European countries. However, the government had decided to delay this so that Muslims could break their Ramadan fast an hour earlier, sparking a controversy that quickly drew sectarian undertones.
Yet again, Lebanon's right-wing politicians and media organizations are agitating against the government as it tries to accommodate Muslims fasting for Ramadan. Mikati has gone out of his way to avoid sectarian rhetoric and the decision was not sectarian in any way. However, the right has decided to use this issue to stoke sectarian tensions between Muslims and Christians.
The government tried to isolate Lebanon from the rest of the world by interfering with daylight savings, but, thankfully, agitation against the decision has succeeded. While it is technically possible for a country to delay daylight savings, this decision requires approval from an international body. Lebanon will need a strong president to counteract Berri and Mikati's meddling.
As Lebanon's economic crisis continues to deteriorate into its fourth year, the government stokes sectarian divisions to distract the public from its total incompetence and corruption. Berri and Mikati knew that this decision would cause serious problems, both logistically and socially, yet as the Lira's value plunges, the Lebanese people are bickering amongst themselves over what time it is. Lebanon's political class truly has no shame in what it will do to distract the people from its greed.
There's a 50% chance that there will cease to be Maronite President of Lebanon, a Sunni Prime Minister of Lebanon, or a Shia Speaker of Parliament of Lebanon by March 2031, according to the Metaculus prediction community.