Student Society President-Elect Ousted Due to Conservative Activist Comments
The president-elect of the Oxford Union has been ousted from office after losing a no-confidence vote that followed his controversial online comments about the conservative activist.
The vote against George Abaraonye reached the necessary two-thirds threshold to remove him from office, according to an statement from the organization.
Contentious Posts
The dispute began after the student reportedly shared messages on social media that appeared to welcome the death of the American conservative figure, who was shot dead while speaking at a college in the United States.
According to reports, one Instagram post reportedly read "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" - using an elongated version of the acronym for 'laughing out loud'.
The president-elect is also reported to have posted in a WhatsApp chat with other members seeming to express approval of the event.
Vote Outcome
The vote of confidence took place over the recent days, with outcomes revealed on this week.
Society announcements indicated that over twelve hundred votes were cast in favor of removal, while 501 were against the motion.
The notice stated that the president-elect was considered to have stepped down in accordance with the society's regulations.
Procedural Disputes
Voting operations were temporarily halted early on the previous day after the returning officer was reportedly subjected to "obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility" from several representatives.
In a statement, Mr Abaraonye asserted that the count had been stopped because electoral officials believed "no legitimate and true result could be reached as a result of procedural failures".
His response unequivocally denied that any representative appointed by George had participated in threatening or obstructive conduct.
Continuing Controversy
The president-elect stated that extremely serious issues had been referred to the disciplinary committee and that he remained president-elect.
His statement added that George was "grateful and honored to have the backing of significantly more than half of university members" who supported a "secure voting process and resist attempts to subvert democracy".
Opponents have said that any decision to keep him would "signal to the world that the society has chosen ideology over integrity".
External Responses
On recently, Mikey McCoy presented an open letter to the Oxford Union on a related program podcast.
The letter accused the society of becoming a institution where "student leaders openly applaud the killing of a ideological rival".
The statement indicated that if the student were to remain in post, Kirk's allies would "personally contact every U.S. political figure who has ever graced the union's chamber and advise them against future participation".
The Oxford Union had earlier criticized the student's comments after Kirk's death and confirmed that complaints submitted about him had been referred for official review.
The president-elect had been one of multiple members to debate with the activist at the society in May.
