Oxford Union President-Elect Ousted Following Charlie Kirk Posts
The president-elect of the prestigious debating society has been removed from his position after failing a vote of confidence that followed his disputed online comments about the conservative activist.
The vote against George Abaraonye achieved the required two-thirds threshold to oust him from his position, according to an statement from the society.
Contentious Posts
The controversy began after Mr Abaraonye reportedly shared messages on social media that appeared to celebrate the killing of Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead while addressing a university 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 student leader is also said to have posted in a WhatsApp chat with fellow students seeming to express approval of the event.
Election Results
The no-confidence motion was conducted over the weekend, with outcomes revealed on this week.
Official notices showed that over twelve hundred votes were cast in favor of no confidence, while just over five hundred were against the motion.
The notice confirmed that the future president was considered to have stepped down in accordance with the Oxford Union's rules.
Procedural Disputes
Voting operations were informally suspended early on the previous day after the election official was reportedly subjected to "obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility" from several representatives.
In a statement, the student asserted that the count had been stopped because election administrators believed "no valid outcome could be reached as a result of procedural failures".
His statement unequivocally denied that any person acting for the student had participated in threatening or obstructive conduct.
Continuing Controversy
The president-elect maintained that significant concerns had been referred to the governing body and that he remained president-elect.
His comment added that he was "proud and thankful to have the support of significantly more than half of students at Oxford" who voted to have a "safe election and oppose efforts to undermine the electoral process".
Opponents have argued that any decision to keep him would "demonstrate internationally that the Oxford Union has chosen ideology over integrity".
External Responses
On recently, Kirk's former chief of staff read out an public message to the society on a related program broadcast.
The message criticized the society of becoming a place where "student leaders publicly celebrate the killing of a ideological rival".
The statement indicated that if Mr Abaraonye were to remain in post, Kirk's allies would "directly reach out to every U.S. political figure who has ever graced the union's chamber and advise them against future participation".
The society had previously condemned Mr Abaraonye's comments after the activist's killing and stated that concerns filed against him had been referred for official review.
The student leader had been one of several students to debate with the activist at the union in May.
