We received this letter from our Skalleague Mohan Narayan who was a candidate in the past elections.
This letter follows the shocking decision to cancel the elections for the missing Vice President and to nominate a Past President in that position. Obviously, this means that in the next elections there will be only one candidate to choose from as the interim candidate cannot participate.
Skal Italia fully supports Mohan in this analysis and requests explanations from the Executive Board.
The decision to deny a democratic process is a relic of the past, a total lack of transparency and complete disrespect for Members.
Dear President Sk Burcin,
Good Morning
Received your mail regarding the appointment of Sk Hulya Aslantas as VP, Even though we have much respect for our past president and exemplary Skalleague, It’s very shocking and disappointing that you have ignored the views of 3 past presidents, my National President and Asia President. I want to recollect your election campaign mail which was sent to the entire membership, you were lucky to have the entire contacts of membership which we don’t get even after requests, anyway Even the returning officer has given a clear view on Improper Instructions lead to all these .. in the elections. Here are your words below, you have decided to Ignore. This you can’t take it lightly I mean the Returning officer’s mail and other mails from past presidents SI and my National President and Asia President. I would request the current EB to read all the 5 emails sent by them please, So you would have an idea as to what was going on.
” If you are kind enough to endorse me as your Skål World President to serve in 2022, I will be your transformational leader working with you horizontally. I will listen to you, hear your ideas, take on new challenges, and offer you my time, experience, and loyalty. I will work with you, support you in achieving the goals you will set, and applaud you and celebrate your successes with you and the Skål world. “
This is very disappointing as you have ignored all of us Madam President.
- 1 Yes /No Vote is Illegal and it was said approval for this was not taken the last EB. So this is the first wrongdoing against the statutes and by-laws, this can’t be done. The issue starts here. We have to work as per statutes, Madam.
- You had mentioned in the VP appointment letter send out today , that 50+1 one of the VP dint get , Please go through the Bye Law for VP Elections its not 50+1 its absolute majority only ,past decade highest vote who gets is senior VP and the lowest one is Jr VP is 2 candidates are there , if there are 3 candidates also this will be second highest vote will be Jr VP. This is the second violation. Take the data from Torrimolinos and check for the last decade you will find what I am saying is right , the highest vote becomes Sr VP and second lowest gets Jr VP. This was the second wrong doing
- So when this is the position there should be 3 vacancies for the director ,and there are 6 candidates ,So the first 4 candidates should quality for the second round , I was illegally eliminated , I had got 64 votes and we have seen second round 75 percent votes difference , So I would had a chance , this is 200 percent wrong and we came to know regarding this on the AGM day , I had protested ,went unheard . The bottomline I was not even given a chance to go for the second round ,as per the rule and Improper Instruction stated by the returning officer was the reason ,So we had to be given the due legitimacy This was the third grave error
If they would have disqualified you with a wrong process, how would you feel, Madam president you have to be fair.
- In the AGM I protested , all others answered ,I was sidelined quietly , and I had typed msg in the message box and it still went unheard . This was a heartless act. In the 10th dec election I won with the 2nd highest number of votes , few protested so this election was called off , agreed not disputing this but when some one from Asia or India requested a point why we are being brushed off , we pay the same subscription , this really hurts . And we are not heard nor allowed to speak .
5 Please read mails of National President Sk Carl, Asia President Andrew, Highly respected Past presidents who had been in Incharges of statues and now they are in the global committee Past President Sk Salih Cene, Sk Past President Mok Singh and also Past president Sk Karine, they all 3 were clear in the communications, still, you have ignored them and what is right too, this goes against your election statements. Read all their mails once again they were very clear in their communication regarding Director Elections. This was brushed off.
6 EOGM was discussed in the AGM, which is the highest authority and you now avoided that. To bring a VP from outside the election framework, we all have campaigned, contested, worked hard, and wrongly eliminated which is a pity. If this happens to you, you will be quiet. I am deeply hurt and it’s clear you have decided to go with your agenda, likes and choice. The discussion of the AGM is ignored and the Idea of EOGM is laid to rest, which is not correct.
7 Please read Skal International Statues Article VI, Section 2, subsection d as below
‘(d) To appoint, if deemed necessary, until the next General Assembly, a replacement for any Executive Committee office which should fall vacant between Assemblies, except that of the President when the senior Vice President will assume the position of President without using title”.
You can only appoint the vacancy if it falls between two AGMs and not on the election day itself. This is my 5th grave mistake.
- You have appointed committees under the EB members , as the chair , this is absolutely wrong and illegal it should be under ISC .Please refer Skal International Statues ,
article VI ,Section 1 subsection d
(d) Executive Committee members cannot hold any other office in Skål International.
So how can EB members hold chair positions in the committees? I do not understand why so many wrong procedures are done, to suit whose needs. Or it’s done without a lack of knowledge. Please kindly correct it, Madam President. We want you to be an Inclusive leader and please understand you are the leader for Skal international and not for 2 or 3 countries. We are losing membership and club in a big way, Please see that is stopped and Skal International flag flies high.
9 . As I have told you, the VP elections is not by 50+1 as you mentioned, it’s by the absolute majority. The AGA notice also very clearly states the EB elections to be done as per the Bye-Law, Article V and please read subsection d for VP is clearly states it only by absolute majority and not by 50+1 as you mentioned, If there are 2 candidates, the highest vote will be Sr VP and the lowest will be Jr VP this was how even your election was done in 2020. This can be changed only by AGM and any Individual, Hope you will agree with me. So there should be 3 vacancies in Director and 4 candidates who have got the highest votes should go for the second round, which didn’t happen and I was wrongly eliminated. So Please correct this first and conduct a new EOGM and address the VP issue Director num 3 and num 4 have to contest, to block us from bringing past president from outside its just unacceptable, you can’t do it, it should be done only vacancy happens between 2 AGM which someone resigns please correct it. We have high regards for Sk Hulya mam but right is right and wrong is wrong
10 By this act, you are making 2023 President without elections this will be the 3 rd year in a row, Skal International clubs will not have a choice for president. Just giving one candidate and we are forcing it on them, is a huge mockery of democracy, which is just unacceptable and not right. Please understand that even though there was no candidate against you still 38 per cent have rejected you and in the second election 32 per cent have rejected you. We accept your leadership and we want you to be an Inclusive leader and not for a few. Please. We want you to take Skal to glory, we will cooperate and work but please correct the wrongdoings this is a humble request
ARTICLE V ELECTIONS TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – BYLAWS – Skal International
Section 1 – Nomination and Elections to the Executive Committee
( (c) The election to fill the vacancies for Director(s) on the Executive Committee shall be by two ballots, if necessary. The candidate(s) obtaining an absolute majority after the first ballot is (are) considered elected. The absolute majority is determined by the number of ballots cast for the election, not the total number of votes distributed to the delegates. The number of votes cast for each candidate must be made known to the Assembly. If after the first ballot one or more offices remain vacant, a second ballot must be held. If there is one vacancy the two candidates with the highest votes will remain. If there are two vacancies the three candidates with the highest votes will remain. For any additional vacancy, an additional candidate will remain. All other candidates must withdraw. The candidate(s) obtaining a simple majority (most votes) is (are) declared elected.
(d) The election of Vice President will be by an absolute majority of the total votes cast on the first vote among the three eligible Directors of Skål International. In the event of an absolute majority not being achieved, the Director with the lowest number of votes will retire from the election and a second ballot by a simple majority (most votes) will then take place.
(e) The two Vice Presidents will be candidates for election as President. The Vice President securing an absolute majority of the total votes cast is declared elected. If both Vice Presidents secure the same number of votes, a further ballot or ballots must be held until one has an absolute majority “
Please take this mail positively and kindly correct the errors and Violations we want you to stand as a president for good reasons in history because we love Skal as a disciplined soldier and passionate Skalleague I have put my points to you and EB, taking and respecting your advice only to write to EB with cc to my National president and Asia President. When someone resigns EB Can appoint and when there is an error happened in elections, then it’s moral and ethical to go for the existing candidates and not to parachute one and per your wish. This is an extraordinary situation. Please understand and kindly see that everything is done in a fair method following the rules.
“Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.” – President Kennedy
Thank You
Yours in Skal
N S N Mohan
Skal International Hyderabad
