The Election Special….
ON LEGITIMACY
DISREGARDING
the recent crude and vulgar open letter, supposedly from an equally crude and
vulgar “student” accusing us of being “nonsensical” and suggesting that we have
vested interests from the demise of MUSA; let us reaffirm our message: CAMUSA
is concerned and opposes any actions and attempts of the few to enforce their
will upon the majority (i.e. the ongoing referendum) and we are against a
supposedly “legitimate” body controlling student societies and money.
Therefore, the definitive question to ask here is legitimacy, who
has it and who doesn’t.
Is a centralized
student union legitimate? Does it truly represent the will of the students? To
answer this we must learn how it is formed and as current events go, MUSA is
formed through a general election. This election is valid as far as individual
student choices are concerned, but such is NOT the case for the
collective student body. Due to the segmentation of choices as well as
the historically insignificant voter turnout, NONE of the candidate
parties can claim legitimacy. The will of those few who elected them
into power does not overwhelm the majority that did not!
It is not a problem of apathy, but of
legitimacy, that haunts the student body today; as only a fraction of the
student body is interested with the going-ons of a student union. The
individual student societies on the other hand (not MUSA’s C&S Division)
are the sole and legitimate representatives of the student body; and this
recognition is provided directly by the involvement of the students themselves
in their respective societies. It is absolutely conceivable that the collective
number of club-members far exceeds the votes garnered by any of the candidate
parties of this or any Monash election!
As the winds of
change are upon us, it is refreshing to find that the candidate parties took
heed of our concerns. Some promised accountability and transparency, others
offer greater freedom of expression, more club funding and deregulation.
Unfortunately these, as well as others, are simply what they are: PROMISES.
Should we take these words as holy truths? Are those promises an absolute
certainty? No, fellow students, none can tell! Such is the case when you are
NOT the ones in charge! Such is the case when power is CONCENTRATED in the
hands of a few!
Therefore,
fellow students, from your own reasoning, which is more legitimate: the student
societies OR the three candidate parties? And who should
represent you: yourselves OR a selected few?
Email: ca-musa[at]hotmail.com
Vote
“NO” at the MyMonash portal
Blog: http://camusa.blogs.friendster.com
©
2007 Coalition for the Abolishment of MUSA
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