Lebanon woke up in two time zones on Sunday (March 26) amid an escalating dispute between political and religious authorities over a decision to extend winter time for a month, Reuters reports.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati decided on Thursday (March 23) to roll clocks forward an hour on April 20, instead of entering daylight savings time on the last weekend of March as is usually the case in Lebanon, Europe and other regions.
Mikati, a Sunni Muslim, announced the decision after a meeting with Shi'ite parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who repeatedly insisted on the change, according to a video of the meeting published by Lebanese media.
"(Instead of it being 7 o'clock), let it stay at 6 o'clock from now until the end of Ramadan," Berri said, according to the clip.
Though no reason was given for the decision, it was seen as an attempt to score a win by Muslims, allowing those fasting during the holy month of Ramadan to break their fasts an hour earlier, at around 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
But Lebanon's influential Maronite church, the largest Christian church in the country, on Saturday (March 25) announced it would not abide by the decision, saying there had been no consultations or considerations of international standards.
It said it would turn clocks forward on Saturday night and other Christian organisations, parties and schools announced similar plans.
Meanwhile, Muslim institutions and parties appeared set to remain in winter time.
Businesses and media organisations, including two of Lebanon's main news channels LBCI and MTV, announced they too would enter daylight savings on Saturday night.
LBCI said in a statement that it would disobey Mikati's decision because it would have harmed its work, adding: "we will not accept isolation" in a tweet.
Others have tried to adapt.
Lebanon's national carrier Middle East Airlines said its clocks and other devices would stay in winter time but it would adjust its flight times to keep in line with international schedules.
The state-run telecoms duopoly sent messages to customers advising them to set the time on their devices manually on Sunday, in case the clocks had automatically gone forward.
Many said the potential chaos was emblematic of decades of failed governance by leaders that led Lebanon into a 2019 financial crisis the World Bank said was "orchestrated" by elites.
During the meeting with Berri, Mikati was seen responding in the video clip that his request was not possible because it would cause "problems", including to flight scheduling.
But later that day, Mikati issued the decision to stay in winter time.
A spokesperson for the premier's office said it did not have an immediate comment on the reasoning behind the decision or the resulting backlash.
