In Lebanon, you can no longer even tell the time without falling into sectarianism. This Sunday, the Lebanese have woken up with two different hours. One, the one that was scheduled, with the entry into force of summer time, as in many other countries (among which Erdogan’s Turkey is not counted). Another, the one decided in extremis by Prime Minister Nayib Mikati to please the country’s Muslim majority.
Ramadan, which depends on the lunar calendar, so the date changes from year to year, began last Thursday. Those who keep fasting do not seem willing to stay on an empty stomach for another hour, for the sake of questionable energy savings. The religious officials had already said that tradition was going to take precedence over ecology and Mikati has limited himself to folding: the winter schedule is extended by a month.
However, the main church in the country, the Maronite, has refused to accept this change, also announced less than four days in advance, to the disruption of mobile operators, airlines and a long etcetera. The Maronite church says that the decision has not been submitted to consultations or transferred in a timely manner to the relevant international organizations.
Mikati, a Sunni Muslim, announced his decision after a meeting with the eternal president of parliament, the Shiite Nabih Berri, who insisted on the change. “May 6 pm remain 6 until the end of Ramadan, instead of 7,” Berri is heard saying in a leaked video of the conversations. As is known, during the holy month, practicing Muslims do not eat or drink between sunrise and sunset.
Other Christian organizations have agreed with the Maronite hierarchy and many religious schools will open tomorrow according to the planned summer time and not the official winter time. Stores will also have to step up when opening and closing. At the moment, some commercial and television networks have already ruled in favor of continuing with summer time. The newscasts of the latter will respect it, because “Lebanon is not an island.”
The flag carrier, Middle East Airlines, has declared that it will accept that the country remains on winter time, but that it will alter its departure times so that there are no disruptions in international connections. Many artifacts have automatically moved forward an hour, fueling the sense of uncertainty and drift that has dragged on since the 2019 financial crash.
In fact, while Lebanon is embroiled in a new identity dispute, the International Monetary Fund has warned this week that the country is still on the brink of the abyss and that the reforms agreed almost a year ago to unblock a loan of 3,000 million dollars are going to snail’s pace 80% of Lebanese already live below the poverty line and the crisis continues to deepen.
Lebanon suffered a civil war with sectarian overtones between 1975 and 1990. The current dispute also reflects the animosity between the block that supports the interim government, with a great weight of the Shiite parties, and the opposition, in which most of the Sunnis and the Christian right.
The side effect, no doubt intended, is a rare temporary communion between Sunnis and Shiites. As much as Mikati shrugs and says that his decision is “purely administrative.” Lebanon has been without a president for a few months and many more with a government in office, due to the discord between political leadership that prevents them from reaching agreements.
Although this is nothing compared to the contempt of the majority of Lebanese for all of them, in view of the fact that everything is collapsing, except the system of bosses and patronage. System that now, moreover, forces them to define themselves religiously even when striking the hour or when opening or closing their trade.
