Student Society President-Elect Removed Due to Charlie Kirk Comments
The president-elect of the prestigious debating society has been ousted from office after failing a no-confidence vote that followed his controversial online comments about the conservative activist.
The vote against the student leader achieved the necessary two-thirds threshold to remove him from office, according to an statement from the organization.
Disputed Comments
The controversy erupted after Mr Abaraonye reportedly shared messages on online platforms that seemed to celebrate the killing of Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot while speaking at a college in the United States.
According to sources, one Instagram post reportedly stated "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" - using an elongated version of the phrase 'lol'.
The president-elect is also reported to have posted in a messaging group with fellow students appearing to welcome the incident.
Election Results
The vote of confidence took place over the weekend, with outcomes announced on this week.
Society announcements showed that 1,228 ballots were cast in favor of removal, while just over five hundred were opposed the motion.
The announcement stated that the future president was considered to have resigned in following the Oxford Union's rules.
Procedural Disputes
Voting operations were temporarily halted early on Monday after the election official was allegedly subjected to "obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility" from multiple individuals.
In a statement, Mr Abaraonye claimed that the count had been stopped because election administrators believed "no valid outcome could be reached as a result of process errors".
His statement unequivocally denied that any person appointed by George had engaged in intimidating or disruptive behavior.
Ongoing Dispute
The student stated that significant concerns had been referred to the disciplinary committee and that he continued as the elected leader.
His statement added that he was "proud and thankful to have the support of significantly more than half of students at Oxford" who supported a "secure voting process and resist attempts to subvert democracy".
Critics have argued that any failure to remove him would "signal to the world that the Oxford Union has prioritized politics over principles".
External Reactions
On recently, Mikey McCoy read out an public message to the society on a related program podcast.
The message criticized the union of becoming a institution where "presidents of the union publicly celebrate the killing of a ideological rival".
The statement warned that if the student were to remain in post, Kirk's allies would "directly reach out to every U.S. political figure who has ever spoken at the society and urge them never again to lend their name".
The society had earlier criticized the student's comments after the activist's killing and confirmed that complaints filed against him had been referred for official review.
The president-elect had been one of several students to debate with Kirk at the society in May.