The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) and the Ministry's Leadership convened a meeting at the Ministry of Local Government headquarter, Oct 16th, 2018. The meeting discussed a number of joint issues with the Local Government Units (LGUs) Mayors and Councilors Bylaw being on top.

The meeting included Minister Dr. Hussein Al-Araj, the undersecretary of the Ministry Mohammad Hassan Jabarin, APLA's President Eng. Mousa Hadid, and the committee formed by APLA to review the new Mayors and Councilors bylaw.

Both parties stressed the importance of the participatory relationship between the Ministry and the LGUs, and the need to continue empowering municipalities and village councils and strengthening their roles in providing citizens with the best services and improve its quality.

As they also highlighted the importance of developing the Local Government Sector, strengthening the partnership among all concerned parties, and communicating with donors to provide the necessary financial support for establishing local economic development projects and strive towards achieving a comprehensive local development.

During the meeting, APLA expressed its position in rejecting many of the provisions and articles stated in the new bylaw due to its negative impact and diminution of the Local Councils powers, thus, affecting the LGUs abilities to provide services to citizens.

Both Parties agreed on holding another meeting soon to discuss all the detailed observations submitted by APLA regarding the mentioned bylaws, aiming to reach a compromise format.