BAGHDAD, March 1 -- For as long as anyone can remember, Friday has been this country's only official day off from work. But early last week, Iraqi newspapers and television stations carried a government announcement that effective immediately, the weekend would be extended through Saturday.
The decision, which also lengthened the Sunday-Thursday workday by an hour each day, suddenly altered the schedules of state offices, schools and banks, not to mention family routines.
While many Iraqis are pleased to have a second day off, the move has proved controversial with others. Some say this is no time for another day off with so much nation-building to do. Others complain that Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, and say they would prefer Thursday.
"We don't want the Jewish holiday. We are Muslims. Why would they give us a Jewish holiday?" asked Shilan Majid, 18, one of several hundred students who protested against the decision at Baghdad's Mustansiriya University on Monday.
The change is most telling, however, for what it says about the country's political culture. The manner in which the decision was made -- behind closed doors with no public debate -- and its abrupt application underscored for some Iraqis how old habits of dictatorial governance die hard, even as the country seeks to adapt to democratic ways.
"If we want people to understand democracy, we should start teaching them now," Wael Abdul-Latif, the minister for provincial affairs, said in an interview. "It is not right to make the government responsible for all the decisions. People should feel they are involved in building the future of their country."
Government officials said adopting a two-day weekend would save fuel and allow another day during which electricity -- which is in short supply -- could be switched from state offices to homes. Abdul-Latif, who said he favored polling people to find out whether they wanted a second day off, was against the change because "this is a time of hard work, not of holidays."
After protracted discussion among cabinet ministers, Saturday was chosen instead of Thursday because it would allow Iraq four days a week, rather than three, to do business with banks, companies and governments in many countries where the weekend is Saturday and Sunday, officials said.
"The mistake our government made is that we didn't explain to the people why we [picked] Saturdays instead of Thursdays," Hachim Hasani, the minister of industry and minerals, said in an interview. "There are a lot of things we have to do with the rest of the world. . . . People understand it when you talk to them, but we didn't. We just came out and said we're gonna have Friday and Saturday as holidays."
While many businessmen said they were happy with the choice of Saturday, they too were disappointed at how the decision was made. "I was shocked," said Saad Jalil, 45, a stationery shop owner. "I was sitting at home and I heard it from the television. I think they should have said something at least before taking the decision. . . . We are supposed to be living in a new democratic country."
Zaid Fadhel Khafaji, owner of a mobile phone shop, agreed. "They should have discussed it with the people first," he said. "We don't live under Saddam [Hussein] anymore. We all live in this country and we all have the right to say 'yes' or 'no.' We are not under the same regime in which we used to say 'yes' and that's it."
All Muslim countries designate Friday, the Muslim holy day, as a day of rest. But they vary when it comes to a second day. Some take Thursday; some, like Jordan and Syria, take Saturday. Some work six days a week.
Even though Hasani, the industry minister, said the decision in Iraq had "nothing to do with religion," some Iraqis didn't see it that way, and the decision has thrown anti-Israeli feelings here into high relief.
At Baghdad's conservative Sunni mosque of Um al-Qura, Sheik Ahmed Abdul Ghafour Samarrae denounced the choice of Saturday in last Friday's sermon. "Now I am afraid that even Friday will be canceled," he said, "and only Saturday and Sunday will be the holiday, like what happened in some of the Arab countries who followed Israel."
