Updated: Pulse bail out of KSU elections

P. Cassar

Apr 7th 2011, 09:35

When I turned up to uni this morning, and went around before going for my lectures... I heard everyone saying the same things, should SDM come out and celebrate now... NO they shouldn't they won over nothing... Even though i am also one of those student who does not have any interest in either Pulse or SDM but after yesterday, it had shown me that at least Pulse did something for the students rights, SDM are doing nothing except keeping their monopoly...They were afraid of the system because everyone was of the same opinion, this year's team of SDM is very weak, no one knows about them and now they want to rule the world.

SDM you be ashamed of your selves, thank god this is my last year here.. and I really hope that things change by next year... STUDENTS cant be treated like this... goerge orwell "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others"... Shame on SDM, Shame on KSU

K. Xuereb

Apr 6th 2011, 23:24

If Pulse are so concerned about democracy then why did they not turn up at the AGM and make their voice heard yet again...I am not an SDM supporter because I have never been too keen on getting involved but from what I have seen, they have a good team of candidates and a good campaign going on so yes, I will vote for SDM.

B.Tanti

Apr 6th 2011, 22:23

KSU DID NOT KEEP THE PROMISE DID LAST YEAR !

Kyle Azzopardi

Apr 6th 2011, 20:15

What a disgrace.... Why SDM are doing their outmost to keep the votes low? Are they scared that if more people are willing to vote with the proportional representation, they would vote against them? Everyone knows the apathy there is in University. A turnout of 15% in a country were the general elections turnout are really high. there is only one answer.... They would prefer using KSU to add to their CV then using it to protect the university students... Shame on them Shame on SDM

C. Vassallo

Apr 6th 2011, 19:52

I am one those 9000 students who never voted for the KSU elections because the system, is not democratic... I was never part of SDM or Pulse but when I was approached by the Pulse Candidates in the past 3 days, they showed me the real view, the way they were speaking and approaching people was were not brainwashing people, they were making people aware. In other words they made think about my rights as a student and my duty to vote... on the other hand yesterday, when i was sitting in a bench in quad, (where there was the sdm stand), i was also approached by the SDM candidates, but this time it was different, i was offered a cocktail how nice :o... that made me realise... is this the KSU Monopoly we want, and made me more determinant to vote for SDM... esp when i was approached by the words "gejna ghal vot ahna"... Were the SDM giving us a hint on what will they be doing for next year?... PARTIES and NO for the 3rd time round, I am not going to vote :D... Well done SDM in you Monopoly !!!

B. Saliba

Apr 6th 2011, 18:22

Pulse should have at least come to the AGM- annual general meeting, by boycotting it as well they definitely did not help their situation and by coming they would have definitely had a good say on certain votes taken, I was present, therefore i know the numbers and i was informed of the numebr of supporters Pulse had. Boycotting the election is one thing , the AGM another.

Martin Grech

Apr 6th 2011, 16:43

It is crystal clear that SDM's efforts are solely aimed to retain their power onto a half-dead KSU!

They have promised mediation for a consensus to be reached on the electoral system. One can hear KSU president making this promise to the Times last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al2mVrdP6kc&feature=player_embedded

Isn't this enough proof that are SDM are not willing to respect the students' intelligence?

T Mifsud

Apr 6th 2011, 16:14

How can you say the system is successfully democratic when it can easily lead to a situation where the majority of the students (more than 50%) are not represented.

Pulse has altered the original proposal of last year in order to address the concerns pushed forward by SDM. They accepted that the Administration would continue to be elected by the current system and the remaining offices by the Single Transferable vote?

Is anyone ready to challenge the democratic advantages of the STV?

Finally it is worth mentioning that KSU had promised last year that they would work so as to find that system agreed upon by all stakeholders. This promise was not respected. Pulse were right to express their dissatisfaction in such way!

Michael Buhagiar

Apr 6th 2011, 15:22

If a system is democratic, then why all the fuss to change it? To suit Pulse' s greed for more power? They were afraid of an electoral showdown with the University students. and with their tails between their legs, they abondoned the contest. So far so good.

Matthew Sciberras

Apr 6th 2011, 14:52

so so sad....bailing out is/was the easiest option for Pulse...


The funny thing is this that at the moment you can vote for ANY Candidate on either side of the SPECTRUM i.e i could vote for a pres from team A and a sec gen from team B etc etc
yet again who has the most votes wins....can it get MORE democratic then that?

What Pulse are trying to do by trying to implement their so called lovely and more democratic system is just to try to fit in at least 1 or more candidate to break SDM's full council once elected....and at the end of this all...will it be healthy? Would this help the running of a student council?

I must say Dear Glenn this is your first loss as the Pulse President....Congrats....

Claire Bonello

Apr 6th 2011, 14:44

Further live updates can be seen on the Insite Malta Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Insite-Malta/93653943156?sk=wall

Reports are currently being read.

T Cuschieri

Apr 6th 2011, 14:42

This doesn't make sense ...

"We're not saying the current system is not democratic, only that it could be made to be more so," Mr Micallef said.

Even the Internet could be faster - should we stop using it?
Even roads could be better - should we stop using them?
Even my English could be better - should I stop writing or reading in English?

R Grima

Apr 6th 2011, 14:35

Are Pulse aligned to the MLP? When they don't like the rules they boycott!!! Where have I seen this before?

David Caruana

Apr 6th 2011, 14:15

""We're not saying the current system is not democratic, only that it could be made to be more so," Mr Micallef said"

Dear Mr.Micallef, the same can be said about our country's electoral system but both PL and PN oppose a system of PROPORTIONATE REPRESENTATION - leaving 3,800 Maltese citizens WITHOUT representation in Parliament after the last general election.