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 Charlie Kirk.
The motion against the student leader achieved the required two-thirds threshold to remove him from office, according to an announcement from the organization.
Contentious Posts
The controversy began after Mr Abaraonye reportedly posted messages on online platforms that appeared to welcome the killing of the American conservative figure, who was shot dead while speaking at a college in Utah.
According to reports, one social media message reportedly stated "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" - using an elongated version of the acronym for 'laughing out loud'.
The student leader is also said to have posted in a messaging group with other members seeming to welcome the incident.
Election Results
The vote of confidence took place over the recent days, with outcomes revealed on Tuesday.
Society announcements showed that 1,228 ballots were cast in favor of no confidence, while just over five hundred were opposed the motion.
The notice stated that the future president was deemed to have stepped down in accordance with the society's regulations.
Election Controversies
Voting operations were temporarily halted early on the previous day after the returning officer was allegedly subjected to "interference, threats, and inappropriate behavior" from several representatives.
In a response, Mr Abaraonye asserted that the count had been stopped because election administrators believed "no legitimate and true result could be reached as a result of procedural failures".
His statement unequivocally denied that any person appointed by George had participated in intimidating or disruptive behavior.
Ongoing Dispute
The president-elect maintained that extremely serious issues had been referred to the governing body and that he continued as the elected leader.
His comment added that George was "grateful and honored to have the backing of significantly more than half of students at Oxford" who voted to have a "safe election and oppose efforts to undermine the electoral process".
Critics have said that any decision to keep him would "demonstrate internationally that the society has prioritized politics over principles".
External Reactions
On Friday, Mikey McCoy presented an open letter to the Oxford Union on The Charlie Kirk Show podcast.
The message accused the union of becoming a institution where "student leaders openly applaud the assassination of a political opponent".
The statement indicated that if the student were to remain in post, Kirk's allies would "personally contact every American political speaker who has ever spoken at the society and advise them against future participation".
The society had previously condemned the student's remarks after Kirk's death and confirmed that complaints filed against him had been forwarded for disciplinary proceedings.
The student leader had been one of several students to debate with Kirk at the society in May.