Cairo: The Egyptian government Monday cancelled a controversial plan for applying the daylight-savings time this summer in response to the parliament’s demand.
The government decided at a cabinet meeting to scrap the application of the system that was originally due to take effect on July 7, the official Middle East News Agency reported.
The move comes in view of the legislature’s decision to stop the summertime system and its enforcement in the future, the agency added.
In April, the government decided to re-apply the system this summer by putting clocks forward by one hour more than five years after it was scrapped. But last week, the parliament blocked the re-application, saying that the system does not substantially cut power use and it causes confusion to the public.
“We appreciate the government’s latest decision that complies with the Egyptian constitution,” said MP Ahmad Al Sejeni, who heads the parliament’s local administration committee. “It is logical that the government complies with the legislature’s resolutions.”
Egypt had used the summertime system non-stop for 23 years until 2011.
The first government that took office following the 2011 ouster of president Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising cancelled the system, saying it proved to be useless in cutting power consumption.
The system was resurrected in the summer of 2014, but was temporarily suspended during the lunar month of Ramadan when Muslims observe dawn-to-sunset fasting that fell in summer of that year.
Last year, the then government suspended the system again pending relevant studies on its feasibility. At the time, a governmental survey showed that most Egyptians were in favour of cancelling system. Electricity authorities also said its application did not “significantly” ease the country’s energy crunch.
Experts also blame the summertime for mood swings, saying it affects people’s biological clock.
