Oxford Union president-elect ousted over Charlie Kirk comments refuses to go quietly

George Abaraonye, the president-elect of the Oxford Union Society, who celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, has been ousted from his position.

The prestigious debate society held a no-confidence vote open to both present and alumni members on Saturday, with the ballots processed over the weekend and results published on Oct. 20. After the results were counted, Abaraonye alleged that the ballots were “compromised.”

The president-elect called the no-confidence vote himself, hoping that the applicable requirement for a two-thirds majority would then save him from dismissal. However, of the 1,746 votes cast — some by alumni through proxies — 1,228 were in favor of no-confidence.

“A Motion of No Confidence carries if at least two-thirds of valid votes are cast in favour and at least 150 affirmative votes are recorded,” an announcement posted by the Oxford Union read. “As this threshold has been met, the Motion of No Confidence has been carried.”

It added: “The President-Elect is deemed to have resigned.”

The voting process was unexpectedly protracted due to “obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility by a number of representatives,” according to Oxford Union officials.

Extraordinary Returning Officer Donovan Lock indicated on Monday that counting was temporarily suspended due to the disruptions and intimidation.

“It is not unreasonable to expect that Representatives treat Electoral Officials with basic courtesy, and the treatment levied towards them last night – and in particular those directed towards the Extraordinary Returning Officer – is utterly unacceptable,” Lock said.

Abaraonye asserted in a Tuesday statement that the voting process was “compromised” and that he “is and remains the president-elect.”

“Donovan Lock, who ran the election, shared around the email account collecting proxy votes, including to personnel who campaigned to have George ousted, who had unsupervised access,” he complained in the Tuesday statement.

Abaraonye “unequivocally” denied that “any representative appointed by George engaged in intimidating or disruptive behavior.”

He added: “We do not know if or how many proxy votes have been tampered with. The Union’s Electoral Officials suspended the count because they believed that no legitimate and true result could be reached as a result of procedural failures.”

Abaraonye came under intense scrutiny last month over statements he made via social media and messaging apps following Kirk’s assassination, including celebrations and mockery of the American activist.

“Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f—— go,” he reportedly told one WhatsApp-based group chat of Oxford Union members.

“Charlie Kirk got shot loool,” he said separately on Instagram.

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Abaraonye’s attitude drew particular ire due to the fact that the president-elect debated Kirk face-to-face within the walls of the Oxford Union just months before the assassination. Abaraonye wore sweatpants to the debate, which focused on masculinity and purpose for young men.

He also previously advocated “violent retaliation” against oppressive institutions in speeches on the Oxford Union floor.

“Some institutions are too broken, too aggressive, too oppressive to be reformed,” he said at the time. “Like cancers on our society, they must and they should be taken down by any means necessary.”

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