OUCA President survives by single vote
OUCA President Matt Smith survived a vote on the legitimacy of his Presidency by a single ballot paper at an emergency meeting of OUCA Council on Tuesday night.
Cameron Penny, a member of the association, had filed a complaint with Returning Officer Andrew Grey contesting the validity of Smith's election. The dispute concerned the number of activist points Smith held at the time of his election.
Grey subsequently upheld the complaint, which removed Smith from his role as the association's president leaving President-Elect Alex Samuels as Acting President for 24 hours.
Penny urged the meeting to: "uphold the constitution, not to undermine it due to petty political considerations." However, Smith told The Oxford Student he felt Penny was merely "a figurehead" who was being manipulated by "a 'loonish' element who don't like the direction OUCA is going in."
The meeting witnessed a heated exchange of views regarding the effects the controversy could have on the association's image. The dean of the association David Johnson told the meeting that to force Smith out would, "damage OUCA in the short-term," he continued "in the long-term it will do so too because it portrays OUCA as a bunch of juveniles."
His opinions were echoed by a number of other speakers. Treasurer Chris Ware said: "I believe in the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law." He recalled the overwhelming majority with which Smith was elected and asked OUCA to consider what kind of impression ousting him would create.
The move to depose Smith represents the climax of weeks of infighting in the association rather than an isolated incident, with the turnout at the meeting exceptionally high.
In order to overturn the ruling that Smith's election was invalid, the OUCA's constitution required a three quarters majority. 51 votes were cast, with 38 in favour of overturning the ruling, 12 against and one spoilt ballot paper.
After the meeting Cameron Penny commented: "I'm very sorry the institution has voted in favour of bigotry and homophobia and of populist demagoguery."
Speaking exclusively to The Oxford Student, Smith said: "I sincerely hope the issue is now closed and OUCA can draw a line under the incident." He added that the result showed, "the desire to unify is bigger than petty concerns. What was at stake was the Association itself."
3rd Feb 2005