RTRS-Supreme Court kills Mexico City's daylight savings

MEXICO CITY, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Mexico's Supreme Court on Tuesday declared that daylight savings was unconstitutional in Mexico City, creating the possibility the capital will be in a different time zone from the rest of the nation next year. The high court ruled President Vicente Fox usurped powers from Congress when he decreed Mexicans' clocks had to move ahead an hour on May 1. But because the challenge to the decree was filed only by Mexico City's government, the Supreme Court's ruling only applies to the capital's Federal District, home to over 9 million and part of a greater urban sprawl of some 18 million. The Supreme Court's ruling takes effect at 2:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Sept. 30, when Mexico is scheduled to revert to standard time. "This is so residents of the Federal District are not subject to unexpected time changes," a statement from the court said. Nevertheless, if Congress does not reenact daylight savings in the capital, or if it is not scrapped in the rest of the country, Mexico City might find itself in its own time zone next Spring when clocks change anew. Mexico adopted the time change in 1996, in order to save electricity and to put the country in tune with its northern neighbor and biggest trading partner, the United States. But daylight savings has never been popular here. Many argue it forces children to walk to school in the dark. In congressional debates last year, one legislator even argued that the clock change inhibited morning sex. ((Mexico City newsroom +525 282 7153 mexicocity.newsroom@reuters.com)) Wednesday, 5 September 2001 00:13:13 RTRS [nN04205687]
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Scott Harrington