Oxford Union President-Elect Ousted Following Charlie Kirk Comments
The president-elect of the prestigious debating society has been ousted from office after losing a vote of confidence that came after his controversial social media posts about the conservative activist.
The vote against George Abaraonye achieved the required two-thirds threshold to remove him from office, according to an statement from the society.
Contentious Posts
The controversy began after the student reportedly shared messages on online platforms that seemed to welcome the death of the American conservative figure, who was shot dead while speaking at a university in the United States.
According to sources, one Instagram post reportedly stated "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" - using an extended form of the acronym for 'laughing out loud'.
The president-elect is also said to have posted in a messaging group with fellow students appearing to welcome the incident.
Vote Outcome
The vote of confidence was conducted over the weekend, with results revealed on this week.
Society announcements showed that 1,228 ballots were cast supporting removal, while just over five hundred were against the motion.
The notice stated that the president-elect was deemed to have resigned in following the Oxford Union's rules.
Election Controversies
Proceedings were informally suspended early on Monday after the returning officer was reportedly subjected to "obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility" from several representatives.
In a statement, the student claimed that the vote tally had been halted 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.
Ongoing Dispute
The president-elect maintained that significant concerns had been referred to the disciplinary committee and that he continued as the elected leader.
His statement added that George was "proud and thankful to have the backing of significantly more than half of university members" who voted to have a "safe election and resist attempts to subvert democracy".
Opponents have said that any decision to keep him would "signal to the world that the Oxford Union has chosen ideology over integrity".
External Reactions
On recently, Mikey McCoy presented an open letter to the society on a related program podcast.
The message accused the union of becoming a institution where "presidents of the union publicly celebrate the assassination of a political opponent".
The statement warned that if Mr Abaraonye were to remain in post, Kirk's allies would "directly reach out to every American political speaker who has ever spoken at the society and urge them never again to lend their name".
The society had previously condemned Mr Abaraonye's comments after the activist's killing and confirmed that complaints filed against him had been referred for official review.
The student leader had been one of several students to debate with Kirk at the society in spring.
