The transition to summer time overnight from Saturday to Sunday has revealed a division among the population of Lebanon. The resigning government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati had decreed on Thursday that it was delaying the one-hour advance of watches and clocks by one month. No justification was given for this decision. However, some of the inhabitants refused to comply.
From this Sunday morning, confusion reigned. MTV and LBCI, two major private television channels, have nevertheless adopted daylight saving time, highlighting the impact on their operations that staying on winter time would have had. Pierre Daher, CEO of LBCI, deplored a government decision announced at the last minute.
Suspicion of religious reasons
The network of Catholic schools in Lebanon has meanwhile announced that its establishments will switch to summer time on Monday. Middle East Airlines, the national airline, announced that it was “advancing the scheduled flight times by one hour” from Beirut (Lebanon). Christian religious leaders are among those who have expressed dissatisfaction with the measure.
Many believed that the latter was in fact intended to shorten the fast observed by Muslims during the month of Ramadan. The Maronite Christian community thus declared that it would not follow the decision of the Prime Minister, “taken without consultation”. The Lebanese Forces and the Free National Movement, the main Christian parties, have also indicated that they will not comply with the government’s instructions.