Oxford Union President-Elect Ousted Following Conservative Activist Comments
The future president of the prestigious debating society has been ousted from office after failing a vote of confidence that followed his controversial social media posts about Charlie Kirk.
The motion against George Abaraonye achieved the required two-thirds threshold to remove him from office, according to an announcement from the society.
Disputed Comments
The dispute began after Mr Abaraonye reportedly posted messages on social media that appeared to celebrate the death of the American conservative figure, who was fatally shot while addressing a college in Utah.
According to reports, one social media message reportedly read "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" - using an extended form of the phrase 'lol'.
The president-elect is also reported to have posted in a messaging group with other members seeming to express approval of the event.
Vote Outcome
The no-confidence motion was conducted over the weekend, with results revealed on this week.
Official notices showed that over twelve hundred votes were cast supporting no confidence, while 501 were opposed the motion.
The announcement stated that the future president was considered to have stepped down in accordance with the Oxford Union's rules.
Procedural Disputes
Voting operations were temporarily halted early on the previous day after the election official was allegedly subjected to "obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility" from multiple individuals.
In a statement, the student asserted that the count had been halted because election administrators believed "no legitimate and true result could be reached as a result of process errors".
His response categorically refuted that any person appointed by the student had engaged in intimidating or disruptive behavior.
Continuing Controversy
The student stated that extremely serious issues had been referred to the governing body and that he continued as president-elect.
His comment added that George was "grateful and honored to have the support of well in excess of a majority of students at Oxford" who voted to have a "secure voting process and oppose efforts to undermine the electoral process".
Critics have argued that any decision to keep him would "signal to the world that the Oxford Union has chosen ideology over integrity".
External Responses
On recently, Kirk's former chief of staff presented an open letter to the society on a related program podcast.
The letter accused the union of becoming a place where "student leaders openly applaud the killing of a political opponent".
The communication indicated that if Mr Abaraonye were to keep his position, Kirk's allies would "personally contact every U.S. political figure who has ever graced the union's chamber and urge them never again to lend their name".
The Oxford Union had earlier condemned the student's remarks after Kirk's death and confirmed that concerns filed against him had been forwarded for disciplinary proceedings.
The student leader had been one of several students to discuss with Kirk at the society in spring.