Plunged into a serious political and economic crisis, Lebanon has been torn apart for two days on the transition to summer time, and two time zones have coexisted since this Sunday.
At 2 a.m., it’s 3 a.m. The French and inhabitants of the European Union are accustomed to the passage between winter time and summer time, which occurs each year on the last Sunday of March. For its part, Lebanon has been torn apart for two days on the issue, so that this Sunday, two time zones coexist in the country.
It all started last Thursday, March 23, when the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, took the decision to postpone the transition to summer time for a month, without giving any explanation, just two days before the change. of schedule.
The move was interpreted by some as a way to shorten the fasting day in the Muslim month of Ramadan, which began on Thursday, angering Christian religious leaders. A video leaked on social media showed Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a Shia Muslim, asking the prime minister not to switch to daylight saving time to allow people practicing the Ramadan fast, which lasts from sunrise to sunset, to break it an hour earlier.
Disruptions in international flights
The Maronite patriarchate, the most powerful Christian community in Lebanon, denounced a decision “taken without consultation” and announced that it would not comply with it.
In addition, this decision taken at the last moment caused disruptions, certain companies and institutions having wished to remain on the basic time zone and switch to summer time this Sunday. This is particularly the case of the network of Catholic schools in Lebanon, but also of the two largest television channels in the country, MTV and LBCI, which explained that the government’s decision to postpone the transition to would have had consequences on their proper functioning.
Some international flights were also disrupted, with several countries switching to daylight saving time. The Lebanese airline, Middle East Airlines, announced that it was “advancing the scheduled flight times by one hour” from Beirut.