Oxford Union president-elect loses vote after Charlie Kirk posts

The president-elect of the Oxford Union lost a vote of no confidence after being criticized for comments that appeared to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk.

The association announced that the motion against George Abaraonye meets the two-thirds threshold required to remove the student from his position.

This comes after Mr. Abaraonye was reported to have shared: social media apparently welcomes attack About the US conservative activist in September.

Mr Abaraonye is objecting to the vote, saying he had “uncontrolled access” to the email account that collected proxy votes from BBC employees campaigning to oust him.

Later on Tuesday, another vote of confidence was held, this time against the current president.

In a statement Published on XThe Oxford Union said all members could vote in the new poll on whether Moosa Harraj should be “dismissed as a servant of the community”.

Kirk, an influential right-wing activist and close ally of US President Donald Trump, was shot and killed while speaking at a university in Utah.

According to the Telegraph, Mr Abaraonye posted a message on Instagram that read: “Charlie Kirk got shot lool”; This was an extended version of the phrase ‘lol’, meaning ‘laugh out loud’.

It is also said that he shared a WhatsApp chat with other students He seems to welcome the event.

Last week, Mr Abaraonye said he had filed a motion of no confidence in him as voting was due to take place over the weekend.

An announcement released Tuesday by returner extraordinaire Donovan Lock stated that 1,228 votes were cast in favor of no-confidence and 501 votes were cast against.

The notice stated that the president-elect was deemed to have resigned in accordance with Oxford Union rules.

The returning officer was informally suspended early Monday after allegedly being subjected to “obstruction, intimidation and undue hostility from a number of representatives,” a statement said.

In his statement, Mr. Abaraonye claimed that counting was halted because election officials believed “no legitimate and genuine outcome could be achieved as a result of procedural failures.”

“We emphatically deny that any representative appointed by George has engaged in intimidating or disruptive behavior,” the statement said. The statement was included.

It said the “extremely serious issues” were referred to the disciplinary committee on Monday afternoon and Mr Abaraonye remained president-elect.

“George is proud and grateful to have the support of well beyond the majority of students at Oxford who voted to hold a secure election and resist attempts to subvert democracy,” the statement said.

The association said that if an allegation or complaint is made, the outcome will be waited until these are determined.

Opponents said any failure to remove him would “signal to the world that the Oxford Union has chosen ideology over integrity”.

On Friday, Kirk’s former chief of staff, Mikey McCoy, read an open letter to the Oxford Union on The Charlie Kirk Show podcast.

He accused the union of becoming a place where “union presidents publicly celebrate the assassination of a political opponent.”

The letter said that if Mr. Abaraonye remained in office, Mr. Kirk’s allies would “personally contact every American political speaker who honors the union caucus and urge them to never again lend their name, time or reputation to this institution that has betrayed its founding ideals.”

In a statement last month, the Oxford Union condemned Mr Abaraonye’s remarks after Kirk’s death and said complaints against him had been referred to a disciplinary hearing.

He later made a second statement Condemning the racist abuse and threats faced by Mr Abaraonye.

The president-elect was one of several students at the union who argued with Kirk in May.