Legislative Council elections were held in
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine.
After ...
in February and March 1923. However, due to an Arab boycott of the elections called by the fifth
Palestine Arab Congress, the results of the election were annulled,
[""Palestine. The Constitution Suspended., Arab Boycott Of Elections., Back To British Rule" The Times, 30 May 1923, p14, Issue 43354] and an Advisory Council was appointed instead.
Background
The Palestinian Legislative Council was established pursuant to Part III of the 1922 Palestine Order in Council, which was the constitution of the British Mandate.
[ The Council was to consist of 23 members - 12 elected, 10 appointed and the High Commissioner.][ The ten appointed members were to be the Chief Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Treasurer, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of Health, the Director of Public Works, the Director of Education, the Director of Agriculture, the Director of Customs and the Director of Commerce and Industry. Of the 12 elected members, eight were to be Muslim Arabs, two Christian Arabs and two Jews.][Legislative Council (Palestine)]
Answers.com Arabs protested against the distribution of the seats, arguing that as they constituted 88% of the population, having only 43% of the seats was unfair.[ The Muslim and Christian Arabs boycotted the elections.]
Electoral system
Primary elections were held in February to elect secondary electors, who in turn were divided into electoral colleges for the purpose of electing Council members.[ All male citizens over the age of 25 had the right to vote.]["Constitution Of Palestine. Legislative Council's Elected Members", ''The Times'', 2 September 1922, p7, Issue 43126] A total of 823 secondary electors were to be elected; 670 Muslims, 79 Jews, 59 Christians and 15 Druze.[Palestine Constitution]
Hansard
Results
Whilst the election held between 20 and 28 February returned sufficient numbers of Druze and Jewish electors, only 82 electors were returned by Christian and Muslim Arabs.[Neil Caplan (1978) ''Palestine Jewry and the Arab question, 1917-1925'' Routledge, p159] Voting was extended, but even after the additional period, only 126 Arab electors had been chosen.[
]
Aftermath
After the elections results were annulled, a 12-member Advisory Council was established in May 1923. Its members were:[
*Bedouins
**Fereih Middein ( Beersheba)
*Christians
**Suleiman Bey Nassif
**Anton Jallad (]Jaffa
Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
)
*Jews
**Two members
*Muslims
** Raghib al-Nashashibi (Mayor of Jerusalem
The Mayor of the City of Jerusalem is head of the executive branch of the political system in Jerusalem. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Jerusal ...
)
** Aref al-Dajani
**Ismail Bey Husseini
**Abdul Fattah es Saadi ( Mayor of Acre)
** Amin Abd al-Hadi (Haifa
Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
)
**Suleiman Bey Touqan (Nablus
Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
)
**Mahmoud Abu Khadra ( Mayor of Gaza)
References
External links
1922 The Palestine Order in Council
UNISPAL
{{Palestinian elections
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine.
After ...
1923 in Mandatory Palestine
Elections in Israel
Elections in Palestine (region)
February 1923
March 1923
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results