Ahrn Palley

Ahrn Palley (13 February 1914 – 6 May 1993) was an independent politician in Rhodesia who criticised the Smith administration and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Ian Smith described him as "one of the most able politicians this country has produced, and although our political philosophies did not coincide, we always respected one another and maintained friendly relations."

Palley was born in Cape Town, South Africa and was Jewish. He was educated at the University of London where he trained in Paediatrics, and went into practice in his native city. In the early 1950s he decided on a change of career and country, retraining as a lawyer and immigrating to Southern Rhodesia. Palley proved an effective advocate and a good legal brain. He was offered the chance to become a Judge in both Rhodesia and South Africa but refused because of the existence of capital punishment to which he had a principled objection.

In the 1958 general election he was elected for the opposition Dominion Party in the Greendale District, which consisted of white suburbs of the capital city Salisbury. The Dominion Party sought the break-up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the re-establishment of Southern Rhodesia as a separate Dominion within the Commonwealth, and Palley supported these aims. However, he grew out of sympathy with the majority of the party which sought to delay moves to majority rule.

Palley split with the Dominion Party early in 1959 and sat instead as an Independent member (he briefly formed his own party which he called the Southern Rhodesia Party). He supported moves towards increasing African involvement in government, and making an issue of opposing attempts to increase police powers. In 1960, Palley attracted headlines by making an all-night filibuster against the United Federal Party government's Law and Order Maintenance Act. Although the UFP was publicly committed to increasing African involvement in public affairs, Palley was not in the least tempted to support them. According to James Barber, author of "Rhodesia: The Road to Rebellion", Palley believed that the UFP lacked any real commitment to giving Africans political power. On 22 July 1960 he also spoke against the UFP's attempts to pursue support from Africans for its attempts which he considered desultory to increase their political power. Palley took the view that it was wholly unrealistic for the UFP to think that the two races could be united in the same party. He also opposed the UFP's decision to use tribal chiefs as a way of involving Africans in government, describing it as a way to bypass Parliament.

...
Wikipedia