Theos-Talk Archives (May 2008 Message tt00581)

> > >Why has the presidency of Radha been so successful in terms of 
> > Indian membership and so disastrous most everywhere else? Might it 
> > have to do with consolidating what she sees as her power base and 
> > letting everyone else go hang? What has she done right in India? 
> How 
> > could it be used as a model elsewhere?<

I think even if other National Sections have freedom in some respects,
they don't have freedom in some matters, where they can be hindered by
HQ. For example if lodge is to be formed in any country, charter with
President's signature has to come from Adyar (charter from existing
lodges can also be withdrawn, as happened in case of many lodges).
Therefore President can control how many lodges will get formed in any
country and if he can control number of lodges in other countries, he
can indirectly control memberships in other countries. 
Consider the case of Russia. As Konstantin wrote, there are around 200
people who would become members of TS, if they are given chance. But
President of TS does not allow formation of lodges in Russia and
membership to individuals is also granted very rarely. So you can see
that President of TS does practically have control over membership in
different countries. Indian President will naturally benefit if
membership is more in India. It is because members generally feel
happy if person from their country becomes President of TS. 
Also if a person from America or Europe or Africa wants to be a
member, his/her Diploma needs signature of President of the TS. That
means PTS has lot of control over membership pattern in all countries.
And he/she can create and modify TS membership patterns to suit his
political goals.

Anand Gholap