§ 12. Mr. RHYS DAVIESasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the High Commissioner of Palestine has yet issued an Ordinance for the establishment of municipal councils in Palestine and, if so, to what towns and villages the ordinance applies; and whether any elections have yet taken place, and the result?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister)The new Municipal Corporations Ordinance came into force on the 12th January last. The Ordinance applies to 23 places, the names of which are given in the schedules to the Ordinance, and of which the most important are Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa and Tel-Aviv. If the hon. Member desires I will send him the list. The High Commissioner is empowered by the Ordinance to provide for the establishment of municipal councils in other areas and I have not been informed whether he has yet made use of his powers in this respect. Elections have been in progress for some months and the only result which has been reported to me is that of the election for the municipal council of Jerusalem where six Jews, four Moslems and two Christians have been elected. In this case several election petitions have been before the courts and the decisions on these petitions have not yet been reported.