Election Overturned
A Union tribunal at the end of Michaelmas found Ruzwana Bashir, the victor in last term's Union presidential election, guilty of interfering with an opponent's manifesto, leading to her immediate disqualification from the election. The judgement means that George Costa, as her only rival, will take up the presidency in Trinity Term.
Bashir won the election with a landslide victory of almost 200, the biggest win for over a decade. She would have been the first British-born Asian female to be Union President.
In the tribunal Bashir defended her action, which was to underline certain parts of the manifesto and write questioning comments on it, stating that she had believed that it was the appropriate way to make complaints about the validity of certain claims made on Costa's manifesto.
The report filed said Bashir's action was a minor infraction and that all complaints brought forward by her on Costa's manifesto were upheld, stating that "the panel wishes to state categorically that it is deeply unhappy to have to impose this penalty in this instance." However, they agreed that Bashir had undoubtedly broken a written rule for which the punishment was disqualification.
The tribunal was brought forward by ex-Union President Ambrose Faulkes, who is also a close friend of Costa. Sources close to Marcus Walker, Union President in Michaelmas Term, report to The OxStu that Walker didn't see why Faulkes thought he had more right than the members to decide who should be President, saying that it made a mockery of the election. Tim Ayles resigned from Union Standing Committee in protest at the decision.
William Samengo-Turner, the Union Returning Officer, told The OxStu that although he fully supported a rule change, he still maintains that "she broke a rule and therefore deserved to be punished."
Costa was unavailable to comment at the time of publication.
15th Jan 2004