Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced (Saturday) the cancellation of a cabinet meeting the day after tomorrow (Monday) due to circumstances related to an attempt to drag the country into a "sectarian division to fuel conflicts and give an administrative procedure a sectarian bias."

Mikati stressed, in a statement he issued this evening, that he assumes the constitutional responsibility with patriotic conviction, "but without allowing us to be drawn into suicide or into something that does not resemble our convictions."

Mikati had called for a government session to be held the day after tomorrow with a single item, which is to discuss ways to mitigate the effects of the decline of the Lebanese pound and financial conditions on salaries and wages.

In his statement, Mikati stressed that "the representatives and concerned political and spiritual leaders have the responsibility to elect a new president and form a new government, so let each party bear its responsibility."

He believed that "the process of electing the President of the Republic constitutes the priority required to complete the convening of constitutional institutions and restore full order to the Lebanese state."

On October 31, Lebanon entered a presidential vacuum with the end of the term of former President Michel Aoun, without electing a successor, as the political division and the lack of agreement by the parliamentary blocs on a consensual figure led to the failure of Parliament 11 times since last September to elect a new president for the country.

The presidential vacancy coincides with a resigned, caretaker government since last May, which paralyzes the work of public institutions amid a severe financial and economic crisis since 2019, which the World Bank ranked among the worst in the world in 150 years.

Mikati stressed that "what is required of parliamentarians alone is to elect the president and not to hesitate in carrying out this constitutional duty."

And he considered that "some are trying to divert attention from his obstruction of the election process or his failure to secure the consensus required to complete this election, by aiming again at the government, which is striving to ensure the continuity of the work of public utilities and address basic issues."

He added, "National and political leaders, instead of taking international positions and warnings about the seriousness of the situation into account, and uniting to complete the required solutions (...) We are witnessing, instead, an attempt to drag the country into a sectarian division to fuel conflicts, and to give a purely administrative procedure an obnoxious sectarian curve."

A decision by Mikati, issued the day before yesterday (Thursday), to postpone the summer time for a month, exceptionally for this year, sparked a new political crisis in the country.

Daylight saving time begins globally this year on March 26, but Mikati decided to extend winter time until April 20.

The positions of the Lebanese were divided between those who adhere to the continuation of work in the winter time and those who refuse to do so, committed to bringing forward the clock as of midnight.

The Maronite Patriarchate, the Lebanese Forces, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Kataeb, and the Christian Free Patriots announced their non-compliance with the government decision, and called for maintaining the daylight savings time, which was scheduled to start at midnight today (Saturday). The hour is presented as 60 minutes.

The Patriarchate said in a statement that the decision was issued "surprisingly and improvised, without consultation with the Lebanese components, and without any regard for international standards."

In the context, a statement issued by the head of the Free Patriotic Party, MP Camille Chamoun, announced that "the international time will remain away from the defective sectarian time of Lebanon's international interface."

In turn, a member of the "Free Patriotic Movement", Representative Cesar Abi Khalil, considered in a tweet on social media that "the presidents of the House of Representatives and the ministers were not entitled to unilaterally make the decision."

The head of the "Lebanese Forces" party, Samir Geagea, called for "returning from the decision before it is too late," and considered that the decision to postpone work in summer time "will hinder many businesses, especially at the level of air traffic and international companies."

A member of the Kataeb Party, MP Salim al-Sayegh, stated that "the Speaker of Parliament cannot confiscate the powers of the Presidency of the Republic or the government as a whole and take such a decision."

The decision to postpone work in daylight savings time coincided with the spread of a video on social media showing Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri asking Prime Minister Najib Mikati to postpone daylight savings time in consideration of those fasting during the month of Ramadan.

Objections also came to the decision to delay work in daylight saving time against the backdrop of repercussions in terms of problems and disturbances in software, applications, navigation, travel, and electronic devices that automatically adopt Universal Daylight Saving Time in their operations.

A number of media outlets and commercial and economic institutions also announced that they will start working in daylight saving time at midnight, according to the universal time, due to the technical repercussions of violating the decision and its negative repercussions.