New Election favourite after Kheir withdraws
The result of next week’s Imperial College Union Sabbatical Elections hangs in the balance today, following the shock withdrawal of one of the two Presidential candidates. Omar Kheir, considered by many as the favourite for the job, confirmed his withdrawal from the elections yesterday leaving Samantha Baker standing agianst ‘New Election’.
Mr Kheir’s withdrawal follows a series of rumours concerning his health and the pressures of his work as a postgraduate in the Electrical Engineering Department. Mr Kheir met Eric Allsop, the current ICU President, early yesterday morning to comfirm his withdrawal from the sabbatical race.
At the time of going to press, Mr Kheir was unavailable for comment, but Mr Allsop later outlined some of the factors contributing to his decision. The former candidate has been ill for the last two weeks, and was only able to attend the College briefly to write his name on the nomination papers. This may explain the lack of a campus-wide poster campaign promoting Mr Kheir, as is traditional for ICU sabbatical candidates.
In addition, Mr Kheir’s Electrical Engineering research team is reported to be facing a critical publication deadline for their work, in direct competition with other groups. Mr Kheir is believed to have been under severe pressure from his supervisor, with a suggestion that his PhD might be in jeopardy were he to devote too much time to his Presidential campaign.
As returning officer for the elections, Mr Allsop expressed regret concerning Omar’s decision. He claimed to be "saddened by the lack of competition" in the race for the post of Union President, which now sees Royal College of Science Academic Affairs Officer Samantha Baker as the single, uncontested candidate. Speaking to Felix, Miss Baker admitted "I still have to convince students that I’m the best candidate... I will continue campaigning as before."
Following this week’s farcical hustings, and the lacklustre campaigning by some candidates, many students voting in Monday and Tuesday’s election may choose to return ‘New Election’ for the position of President. Were this the case, nominations for President would be reopened, allowing new and potentially better candidates to stand. Although unusual, such a result seems increasingly likely as medical students at St Mary’s Hospital Medical may choose to ‘block vote’ for a new election; It is believed that the medics had originally planned to vote for Mr Kheir, who now openly supports the re-opening of nominations. Many students at the South Kensington campus have similarly expressed their disaffection towards the candidates standing for all four posts.
Were the ICU Presidential elections to be re-held, a number of prospective candidates have hinted that they might stand. Robin Riley, ICU’s Publications Board Chairman, is alleged to have signed a statement confirming his intention to run for the post. Another likely candidate may be Royal College of Science Union President, Mo Dulloo. "At the moment I can’t say anything" said Mr Dulloo, but went on to say "Once a new election’s certain, it will be an interesting contest with Robin."
A precedent for a new presidential election to be run was set in 1974 when the race was run four times
