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Now, politics of the Oxford Union Society

OXFORD: Corrupt campaigning practices. Charges of sexual harassment. Delicate racial and gender issues. A presidential election thrown out, the winner disqualified, the loser withdrawn.

Phew. One can only hope the U.S. election goes more smoothly than the selection of a president at the Oxford Union Society, one of the world’s foremost debating clubs and a symbol of the English elite.

No one doubts that this is an important place, a bastion of free speech that has been a jewel in Oxford’s crown since it was founded in 1823. The framed photos in the entryway reveal that Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Winston Churchill, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Robert Kennedy and Yasser Arafat are only some of the luminaries who have addressed the Oxford Union.

The club presidency has traditionally been a springboard for Oxford University students into the top echelons of politics; the seat was occupied three decades ago by the late Benazir Bhutto long before she became the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

But this illustrious past cannot mask an electoral process that has degenerated into farce. It started with the November election of Krishna Omkar, 23, an Indian student whose triumph promptly faced a challenge from runner-up Charlotte Fischer, who, with the help of a lawyer, managed to convince investigators that Mr. Omkar should be disqualified for violating election rules.

“It’s a tragedy that this has happened,” said Jason Keen, a history student who backed Mr. Omkar. “One person wins, one person loses, and the person who loses steps aside. But Charlotte didn’t want to step aside.”

Mr. Omkar’s misdeed? An internal tribunal — comprising past Oxford Union officers — found that he had violated the society’s arcane electoral rules by actively soliciting votes. It ruled that was so grievous he should be stripped of the presidency and barred from running again. Mr. Omkar has presented a proposed rule change to the Oxford Union that would allow him to stand in a new election expected within weeks; a hearing is set for Thursday.

Mr. Keen, 19, said many Oxford Union members were shocked that Ms. Fischer would resort to using a lawyer. “The general consensus was that bringing a lawyer in was a little OTT,” Mr. Keen said, using the text message lingo for “over the top.”

Still, the strategy worked and left Ms. Fischer, 20, poised to accede to the presidency. Instead, she resigned from the Union’s officers’ committee — she had served as librarian — and temporarily left Oxford University to return to her parents’ home outside London.

One of the causes, she said, was a string of vulgar, sexually suggestive text messages she said had been sent to her cell phone by other Oxford Union officers. Still, she has not made any formal complaint about these text messages and it is not clear who sent them.

Ms. Fischer said her resignation was not simply a reaction to sexism but a response to what she sees as the corrupt nature of the club and its inner circle. “The Union has become nepotistic and closed,” she said, charging that the officers who are already in power can “adopt” successors and assure hand-picked candidates will win.

Ms. Fischer said she had been the victim of “astonishingly puerile” behaviour, including the posting of a picture on an Internet site that made fun of her figure.

Her withdrawal left the electoral process in chaos. The club’s officers studied the complex rules and regulations, but none was found to directly address the unforeseen chain of events.

For his part, Mr. Omkar still holds a slim hope that he can push through a rule change. “I could walk away,” said Mr. Omkar, who is also active in theatre and opera. “But I feel what happened was unfair. The punishment, barring me from ever running again, was draconian.”

He denied doing any more electioneering than other successful candidates have done in recent years. “Everyone’s done it,” he said. “I’ve been in the room while other people did it.”

Some Oxford Union members say his disqualification smacked of racism, and his rise and fall have become front-page news in India.

Meanwhile, many supporters of Ms. Fischer, who is Jewish, say that she has been a victim of anti-Semitism. — AP

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