The Lebanese caretaker government has reversed its decision to postpone daylight savings time, following objections from Christian religious and partisan parties. The official Lebanese National News Agency reported that work at the new time will start at midnight next Wednesday/Thursday. The cabinet session, which dealt with the issue, decided to maintain Cabinet Resolution No. 5 of 8/20/1998 approving summer and winter time without any modification at the present time. The decision to postpone the summer time to next April 21 until the end of the month of Ramadan, instead of starting work in the world summer time in the last weekend of March, has sparked controversy and technical confusion. The decision also drew a sectarian turn amidst Muslim welcome and objections from the Maronite Patriarchate and Christian parties. The presidential vacuum coincides with a caretaker government that has been in place since last May, and a severe economic crisis since 2019, ranked amongst the worst in the world in 150 years by the World Bank.
Beirut, March 27, 2023 (Xinhua) – The Lebanese caretaker government today (Monday) retracted its decision to postpone the daylight savings time, following objections from Christian spiritual and partisan parties, provided that work at the new time starts at midnight next Wednesday/Thursday, according to official media.
The official Lebanese National News Agency quoted Mikati as saying, following a cabinet session that dealt with the issue of daylight saving time, that the cabinet “decided to maintain Cabinet Resolution No. 5 dated 8/20/1998 approving summer and winter time without any modification at the present time.”
And he added, “The new timing will start at midnight Wednesday-Thursday, because we had to take a 48-hour period to address some technical matters according to the previous memorandum, so we were given time to readjust it.”
Miqati had announced in a memorandum issued last Thursday that he had decided to postpone work in the summer time to next April 21 until the end of the month of Ramadan, instead of starting work in the world summer time in the last weekend of March.
The decision sparked controversy and technical confusion in the country with several institutions, most notably airlines and telecommunications companies, and took a sectarian turn amidst Muslim welcome and objections from the Maronite Patriarchate and Christian parties that announced that they would follow daylight savings time.
The Patriarchate said in a statement last Saturday that the decision to postpone daylight savings time “was issued suddenly and improvised, without consultation with the Lebanese components, and without any regard for international standards.”
However, Mikati affirmed today that his previous decision to postpone working in summer time until the end of Ramadan “was preceded by intensive meetings over a period of months with the participation of ministers and stakeholders, and its aim was to relieve those fasting during Ramadan without causing any harm to any other Lebanese component.”
He said, “This decision was taken many times in the past. Suddenly, outside the natural and purely administrative context, some considered the decision a challenge to it and gave it a dimension that I had never imagined, but I certainly did not take a decision with a sectarian or religious dimension. Such a decision would not have required all these sectarian responses.” abominable.”
Mikati stressed that “the problem is not a winter or summer hour, but rather the vacuum in the first position, i.e. the presidency of the republic, and I bear no responsibility for it, but rather the political and spiritual leaders concerned, primarily the parliamentary blocs.”
He added, “Today, we solved one problem to confront and silence the sectarian pumping, but I put everyone before their national responsibilities in protecting civil peace, the national economy, and the work of public utilities.”
Mikati called on all parties to elect a new president and form a new government without delay.
On October 31, Lebanon entered a presidential vacuum with the end of the term of former President Michel Aoun, without electing a successor, as the political division and the lack of agreement of the parliamentary blocs on a consensual figure led to the failure of Parliament 11 times since last September to elect a new president for the country.
The presidential vacancy coincides with a resigned caretaker government since last May, which paralyzes the work of public institutions amid a severe economic crisis since 2019, which the World Bank ranked among the worst in the world in 150 years.
The issue of daylight savings time in Lebanon has been a controversial topic, with objections and support from various parties. The caretaker government has retracted their decision to postpone the implementation of daylight savings time and instead announced that work at the new time will begin at midnight next Wednesday/Thursday. While the decision has resulted in technical confusion and sectarian tensions, Prime Minister Mikati stressed the importance of national responsibilities in protecting civil peace, the national economy, and the work of public utilities. The absence of a presidential figure and a lack of agreement among parliamentary blocs have only exacerbated the situation, further emphasizing the urgent need to elect a new president and form a new government without delay.