BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:10 P.M.) – The appearance of female police officers wearing shorts has sparked debate in Lebanon, after Mayor of Broummana Pierre Achkar selected shorts as the new summer garb for the officers of the city, footage filmed on Wednesday shows.

“Ninety-nine percent of the tourists in the Mediterranean region wear shorts,” Achkar said, and cited the wish to “change the bleak picture of Lebanon in the West, and to bring tourists from the West.”

Local shop owner Elie Mosawer said, “people are over-analysing this issue, they are giving it way more attention than it deserves. All these ladies are respectable,” and concluded that “everybody wears shorts! It’s not a big deal. And it’s not too short even. Fine, it’s all right, it’s summer, it’s hot!”

The move, however, has drawn sharp criticism from many online, with reports of people alleging the Mayor is using young women for tourism, and claims of a large difference between male and female uniforms.

Despite that, Samata Saad, one of the police officers wearing the shorts, said, “we have accepted it with enthusiasm and we still hope that it will return in every summer season.”

Video credit: Ruptly