Rabat – The government council adopted Draft Decree 2.18.855 today, adding 60 minutes to the standard time in Morocco, moving Morocco to GMT+1 year-round.
The government adopted the change overnight, only two days before Morocco was set to turn back the clocks one hour with the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) October 28.
Only yesterday, Secretary General to the Government Mohamed Hajoui called the government council for an exceptional meeting Friday morning to approve a draft decree relating to DST.
Decree 2.18.855 adds 60 minutes to Standard Time in Morocco, which used to be GMT, under Chapter I of the Royal Decree of June 2, 1967 on Standard Time.
The decree will enter into force on the date of its publication in the official gazette. It is expected to be published before Sunday.
The decree aims to maintain DST permanently “to avoid many changes that occur many times during the year and repercussions at many levels.” Morocco typically changes the clocks four times per year, twice for DST and twice for the weeks of Ramadan.
However, the draft decree did not mention any example of the repercussions.
It also indicated that the permanent DST will be adopted as “an experiment.”
According to Article 2 of the decree, the head of government can, for a defined period, suspend the new standard time, when necessary.
