In Lebanon, you can no longer even tell the time without falling into sectarianism. This Sunday the Lebanese woke up to two different hours. One, the one that was planned, with the entry into force of summer time, as in many other countries (not including Erdogan’s Turkey). Another, the one decided in extremis by Prime Minister Najib Mikati to please the country’s Muslim majority.
Ramadan, which depends on the lunar calendar, which is why the date changes every year, began last Thursday. Those who fast do not seem willing to stay on an empty stomach for another hour, in the name of a questionable energy saving. The religious leaders had already said that tradition would prevail over ecology and Mikati has limited himself to obeying them: the winter hours are extended by a month. However, the main church of the country, the Maronite, has refused to accept this change, announced less than four days in advance, and which has caused the upheaval of mobile operators, airlines and a long etcetera . The Maronite church says that the decision has not been submitted to consultations or communicated in a timely manner to the relevant international organizations.
Mikati, a Sunni, announced his decision after a meeting with the eternal speaker of the Parliament, the Shiite Nabih Berri, who insisted on the turn. “Let 6 o’clock in the afternoon continue to be 6 o’clock until the end of Ramadan, instead of 7 o’clock,” says Berri in a leaked video of the talks. As is known, during the holy month, practicing Muslims do not ingest any food 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 schedule and not the improvised official winter schedule. Shops will also have to take a step forward when opening and closing. At the moment, some commercial and television channels have already spoken out in favor of continuing with summer time. The news will respect that, because “Lebanon is not an island”.
The flag carrier, Middle East Airlines, will accept that the country remains on winter time, but will alter its departure times so that there are no mismatches with international connections. Many artifacts have been automatically advanced an hour, fueling the sense of uncertainty and drift that has been lingering since the financial crash of 2019.
In fact, while Lebanon embarks on a new identity dispute, the International Monetary Fund has warned this week that the country remains one step away from the abyss and that the reforms agreed almost a year ago to unlock a loan of 3,000 million of dollars advance at a snail’s pace.
Lebanon suffered a sectarian civil war between 1975 and 1990. The current dispute also reflects the animosity between the bloc supporting the interim government, heavily weighted by Shia parties, and the opposition, in which they stand out a large part of Sunnism and the Christian right.
