Student Society President-Elect Ousted Following Charlie Kirk Posts
The president-elect of the prestigious debating society has been ousted from office after losing a vote of confidence that came after his controversial online comments about the conservative activist.
The motion against the student leader achieved the necessary two-thirds threshold to oust him from his position, according to an announcement from the society.
Contentious Posts
The dispute began after the student reportedly shared messages on online platforms that seemed to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot while speaking at a university in the United States.
According to sources, one social media message reportedly stated "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" - using an extended form of the phrase 'lol'.
The student leader is also reported to have written in a WhatsApp chat with other members appearing to express approval of the event.
Vote Outcome
The vote of confidence was conducted over the recent days, with outcomes announced on Tuesday.
Official notices indicated that over twelve hundred votes were cast supporting removal, while just over five hundred were against the motion.
The announcement stated that the president-elect was considered to have resigned in accordance with the society's regulations.
Election Controversies
Voting operations were temporarily halted early on the previous day after the election official was reportedly subjected to "obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility" from several representatives.
In a response, Mr Abaraonye claimed that the vote tally had been halted because election administrators believed "no valid outcome could be reached as a result of procedural failures".
His statement unequivocally denied that any representative acting for George had engaged in threatening or obstructive conduct.
Ongoing Dispute
The student maintained that significant concerns had been referred to the governing body and that he remained the elected leader.
His comment added that George was "proud and thankful to have the support of significantly more than half of students at Oxford" who voted to have a "secure voting process and oppose efforts to undermine the electoral process".
Critics have said that any failure to remove him would "demonstrate internationally that the society has chosen ideology over integrity".
External Reactions
On recently, Kirk's former chief of staff read out an open letter to the society on a related program podcast.
The message criticized the union of becoming a institution where "student leaders publicly celebrate the killing of a political opponent".
The statement indicated that if Mr Abaraonye were to keep his position, Kirk's allies would "personally contact every American political speaker who has ever graced the union's chamber and urge them never again to lend their name".
The society had earlier condemned Mr Abaraonye's comments after Kirk's death and confirmed that concerns filed against him had been forwarded for disciplinary proceedings.
The president-elect had been one of multiple members to debate with the activist at the union in May.
