Jewish Move to Boycott Greek Senate Elections

The elections to the Greek Senate in which the Jewish population is to participate in a separate electoral college, have again been postponed. The date now set is April 21st.

A move to boycott the elections because the separate electoral college excludes the possibility of Jews voting in the general list if they wish to is growing among the Jewish population. The professional unions and a number of Zionists are supporting the boycott measure.

The policy of Jewish abstention from the elections to the Greek Senate as a protest against the segregation of the Jewish voters in a separate Jewish Electoral College was previously considered, but broke down and the Jewish population decided to take an active part in the elections. M. Asher Mallah, President of the Greek Zionist Federation and a leading member of (Continued on Page 4)

The elections to the Senate are the first to be held in Greece since 1862. The Jews of Salonica, voting in their Electoral College, will form a separate constituency, with the right of electing one Senator.

The abstention movement was launched by the Jewish anti-Venizelists and the Communists. All the members of the Jewish Communal Council, however, were opposed to abstention, fearing that it would be detrimental to the interests of the Jews of Salonica, by repeating the experience of the elections of 1923, when the Jewish separate Electoral College was first created. Although the abstention was almost complete, 25 votes cast in the Jewish Electoral College were sufficient to return to the Chamber four candidates who represented no organized body of opinion.