Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikáti made an exceptional decision this year to postpone the introduction of daylight saving time until April 20, i.e. at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Muslims in Lebanon would thus be able to break their daily fast in the evening an hour earlier than during daylight saving time.
The Maronite Catholic Church, which has a lot of influence in the country and has a number of organizations and schools under it, announced on Saturday that it will switch to daylight saving time despite the government’s decision. In the same way, most businesses and media will follow daylight saving time. “Lebanon is not an island,” said the LBCI television station, which justified disobeying the government order by saying it would harm its work.
Conversely, national carrier Middle East Airlines said its clocks and facilities would continue to follow DST, but that it would change flight times to align with international schedules.
The government order further deepened divisions in the country, where a civil war between Christian and Muslim factions broke out in 1975 and since its end in 1990, seats in the country’s parliament have been allocated by religion.
Economic Crisis
Lebanon is also currently plagued by a deepening economic crisis that has plunged three-quarters of the population, including one million Syrian refugees, into poverty, while inflation continues to rise. In addition, the country has been without a president since October last year, and the government is only temporary with limited functions.
Demonstrations took place in Beirut on Saturday due to the economic situation, during which the police used tear gas.
