The Lebanese caretaker government's decision to delay the introduction of daylight saving time until after a month Ramadan sparked widespread controversy in Lebanon, with several institutions announcing that they would not abide by it.

Christian political forces and the Maronite Patriarchate also announced their rejection of the decision, which comes amid a severe economic crisis and political divisions that prevented the election of a new president of the republic.

AFP said the decision took a sectarian turn and sparked sarcastic comments on social media.

Lebanon adheres annually to the World Daylight Time, which begins this year on Sunday, March 26, but the Council of Ministers decided to extend winter time exceptionally until April 21.

Alfa and MTC Telecom asked subscribers to manually adjust the clock settings on their phones to avoid changing the time automatically, and several institutions refused to implement the decision, such as some television stations and the Maronite Patriarchate.

Middle East Airlines also announced the change of departure times for flights departing from Rafic Hariri International Airport.

With NBN
channel camera the timing of the blessed
month of Ramadan His Excellency President Nabih Berri pic.twitter.com/VrZQcbqo01

— muhamed al ali (@muhamedalali13) March 24, 2023

Berri and Mikati dialogue

Activists on social media circulated a video showing a dialogue between Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati about extending winter time beyond Ramadan.

In response, the Maronite Patriarchate announced that it had not implemented the decision and was committed to Universal Daylight Time.

The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Lebanese Forces (LF), two of the most prominent Christian parties, also voiced their opposition to the decision taken by the Lebanese caretaker government headed by Najib Mikati.

Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Gebran Bassil said in a tweet that the decision should not be tolerated and should be considered appealing or disobeying it.

Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces party, called for a reversal of the decision, saying that the decision to postpone daylight saving time will hinder many businesses, especially at the level of air traffic and international companies.

Salim al-Sayegh, a member of parliament for the Kataeb Party bloc, said that the speaker of the House of Representatives could not confiscate the powers of the presidency or the government collectively and take such a decision.

On the other hand, the Assistant Inspector General of Dar al-Fatwa in the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Hassan Merheb, responded to the tweet of the head of the Free Patriotic Movement party by saying via Twitter, "Accept or not accept the matter with us the same," adding, "Your hateful racism, which we have experienced well, will not benefit you anymore," as he put it.