Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. (Credit: AFP/File photo)
BEIRUT — Leader of the Lebanese Forces (LF) Samir Geagea said on Sunday that the problem surrounding the postponement of the switch to daylight saving time "has nothing to do with Ramadan or Easter, nor with any other religious consideration," but is a matter of "public order and the application of the constitution and the law."
Lebanon has been split over the issue of the time change since a last minute decision by the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday to postpone the switch to daylight saving time until the end of April.
"The problem has nothing to do, either directly or indirectly, with Ramadan or Easter, or any other religious consideration," the LF leader said in a tweet on Sunday.
Geagea went on to say that this problem "is related to public order and the application of the constitution and the law, especially since ministerial decisions must be taken in cabinet, not during a discussion over coffee." The latter remark refers to a video that has circulated widely on social networks and that shows a discussion between Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri with the latter asking Mikati to postpone the switch to daylight saving time.
"The only decision that prevails is that reached by the cabinet on Aug. 20, 1998, which provides for advancing the time [by one hour] during the last weekend of March each year," Geagea added, thus aligning himself with the position expressed by caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury on Saturday night.
Mikati's decision "is therefore unconstitutional and illegal, and must be considered null and void," the LF leader said. "I hope that the prime minister will take into consideration these constitutional and legal elements, and that he will behave as his duty requires," he concluded.
Several media outlets, archdioceses and schools said on Saturday that they would not abide by the decision to postpone the switch to daylight saving time by one month. Some media outlets decided to change to daylight saving time "to protest the Prime Minister's decision."
Many observers describe Mikati's decision as sectarian, saying it was made because of the impact it would have on the country's Muslim population during the month of Ramadan, during which many worshippers fast from sunrise to sunset. Others consider that Mikati's and Berri's decision is an attempt to distract public discussion from the current crises in Lebanon.