🔗 Share this article

The future president of the prestigious debating society has been ousted from office after failing a no-confidence vote that followed his controversial social media posts about the conservative activist.

The motion 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 began after Mr Abaraonye reportedly posted messages on online platforms that appeared to welcome the death of Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead while addressing a college in the United States.

According to reports, one Instagram post reportedly read "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" - using an elongated version of the phrase 'lol'.

The student leader is also said to have posted in a messaging group with fellow students appearing to express approval of the event.

Vote Outcome

The vote of confidence was conducted over the weekend, with results revealed on Tuesday.

Society announcements showed that over twelve hundred votes were cast supporting removal, while just over five hundred were against the motion.

The announcement stated that the president-elect was deemed to have stepped down in accordance with the Oxford Union's rules.

Procedural Disputes

Voting operations were informally suspended early on the previous day after the election official was reportedly subjected to "interference, threats, and inappropriate behavior" from multiple individuals.

In a statement, Mr Abaraonye claimed that the count had been halted because election administrators believed "no valid outcome could be reached as a result of process errors".

His statement categorically refuted that any person appointed by George had engaged in intimidating or disruptive behavior.

Continuing Controversy

The student maintained that extremely serious issues had been submitted to the governing body and that he continued as the elected leader.

His comment added that he was "proud and thankful to have the backing of significantly more than half of university members" who voted to have a "secure voting process and oppose efforts to undermine the electoral process".

Opponents have argued that any failure to remove him would "demonstrate internationally that the society has prioritized politics over principles".

External Responses

On recently, Kirk's former chief of staff read out an open letter to the society on a related program podcast.

The message criticized the union of becoming a institution where "student leaders openly applaud the killing of a political opponent".

The statement warned that if the student were to keep his position, Kirk's allies would "personally contact every U.S. political figure who has ever graced the union's chamber and urge them never again to lend their name".

The Oxford Union had earlier criticized the student's remarks after Kirk's death and confirmed that concerns filed against him had been referred for official review.

The president-elect had been one of multiple members to discuss with Kirk at the union in May.