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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