Theos-Talk Archives (May 2008 Message tt00739)

"II/3 Comment: There are no restrictions present in the Rules and
Regulations
regarding the material sent by whomsoever regarding the nominations."

Dear Anton,

Thank you for pointing this out, and for doing the rest of your analysis.
This is very important to contemplate in this situation, because, if any and
all letters are legitimate according to this interpretation, then we
actually have no problem! Case closed and I'll have to revise my analysis of
the letters.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theos-talk/message/44374

But, ... even though the Rules and Regulations do not restrict the
dissemination of 'electioneering' and other material (and for the sake of
freedom of expression and tranparency of procedures I do agree with that),
the problem lies with the use of official mailing-lists and the poor
contextualization and ligitimazation of the letters send (Except for one,
i.e. Betty Bland's letter to the GC. See my analysis). And it's here that I
think the crux of the matter lies. My observations then would be (still) the
following:

1) Did Elvira Carbonell use her position as assistant-secretary to the TS
secretary to get access to the mailing-list of GC members in order to,
possibly illigimately, send all of them her ligitimate concerns? Or did she
only send to those she personally knew and was friends with and therefore
was exercising her non-restricted right to freely express herself to her
peers? Or, there is no problem, because the e-mail and snail-mail addresses
of the GC are public property anyway as they are posted on the TS Adyar web
site at http://www.ts-adyar.org/directory.html ?

The question is very relevant also in the light of the fact that she was
asked to leave. What was the reason for that? If she was told to leave
because of the content of her letter, then others, having made similar
infringements, should be in trouble too. Or, if she was asked to leave for
illigitimate use of her access to an official mailing list, then again,
others, having made similar infringements, should be in trouble too. Or, we
follow your (Anton) lead and perceive all these letters as non-restricted
communications, regardless of how e-mail and snail-mail addresses were
obtained, and declare the case closed. Or, there was no problem at all, as I
indicated above, because she used a publicly accessible mailing-list and
therefore be offered an official apology and gesture of compensation.

2) What is the status PTS Burnier letter? Still, nothing definitive can be
said about that. My hypothesis is still that the letter "started out as a
private letter, but through wide dissemination it became a de facto
electioneering letter, which then, implausibly, was construed as a response
to Carbonell to defend its legitimacy." As she herself has not addressed
this, nor anybody else for that matter, it is still open how to perceive her
letter.

(BTW, those who call upon the other actors in this case to come forth and
explain and/or correct certain statements, should also be concerned about
the unclear status of the PTS letter, and call equally upon her to do so. My
position is here that all communications were voluntary and that only if any
of the writers think they made an egregious mistake, then they should
voluntarily come forward to confess. Otherwise, when others think egregious
mistakes were made, our system of checks and balances can kick in with
filing complaints and requesting an inquiry.)

3) Did Betty Bland have sufficient reason to use the official TSA
mailing-list to disseminate her private letter? As stated before, her letter
to the GC was in my opinion entirely legitimate, because it was a response
to what she perceived as electioneering and she used a mailing-list open to
the public. Her letter to the TSA membership is problematic, because of the
mailing-list issue, and because she provided a poor legitimization and
contextualization for breaking both tradition and rules. Still, she might
have broken open an important issue that probably should have been earlier
and better addressed by the PTS herself and/or the Election Committee.

Thanks again, Anton, for your contribution. I move to have it listed high up
in the Slovenia TS web site on the 2008 elections.

Yours Sincerely

Govert







----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anton Rozman" <anton_rozman@yahoo.com>
To: <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 7:53 AM
Subject: Theos-World Re: Independent Inquiry into the TS Election


Dear friends,

It seems that once again an attempt to make an impartial observation
is needed in regard to the authority and due acting of certain bodies
of the TS regarding the election process. As there are not all data
available some presumptions will be included.

I/1 Rules and Regulations:

(a) Seven months before the expiration of a President's term of
office, or within three days of the office becoming vacant, the
Executive Committee shall appoint a special Committee consisting of
three members of The Theosophical Society in good standing including
the Secretary, but excluding any candidate for the office of
President, to carry out the election procedure as herein under
detailed. This Committee shall be known as the Election Committee and
shall be answerable only to the Executive Committee.

I/2 Execution:

In December (data not available) 2007 the Executive Committee
appointed the Election Committee.

....

II/1 Rules and Regulations:

(b) Immediately on its appointment; the Election Committee shall
instruct the Secretary to send out to the members of the General
Council a written call for nominations for the office of President.
The call for nominations shall be sent by airmail or other
expeditious means if airmail be unavailable, followed one week later
by a second (duplicate) call.

II/2 Execution:

18 December 2007 the call for nominations was sent by airmail by
International Secretary.

19 December 2007 an email letter was sent to members of the General
Council by assistant to the International Secretary regarding the
nominations.

II/3 Comment:

There are no restrictions present in the Rules and Regulations
regarding the material sent by whomsoever regarding the nominations.

....

III/1 Rules and Regulations:

(d) At the expiration of ten weeks, the Election Committee shall
place all the nominations received, together with the relevant
papers, before the Executive Committee at a meeting especially
convened for the purpose. At such meeting the Executive Committee
shall examine the nominations.

III/2 Execution:

Presumably in March (data not available) the Election Committee
placed the nominations received, together with the relevant papers,
before the Executive Committee.

III/3 Comment:

Presumably the Election Committee and the Executive Committee didn't
find any point of the nomination process disputable.

....

IV/1 Rules and Regulations:

(e) The Secretary shall then immediately communicate in writing by
airmail or other expeditious means (followed one week later by a
second and duplicate communication) the voting list together with
biographical data of the candidates in accordance with Appendix A to
these Rules, to the General Secretaries, Regional Secretaries,
Organizing Secretaries, and Presidential Representatives and to the
Lodges (Branches) and Fellows-at-large attached to Headquarters.

Other material concerning the candidates shall not be circulated. ...
Other information may be included but must be factual and shall not
contain statements of opinion or policy. The biographical data for
circulation shall be drawn up by the Election Committee on the basis
of the information supplied by the candidates, and shall be approved
by the Executive Committee (excluding any candidates for election)
before being issued.

IV/2 Execution:

Presumably in March (data not available) the Executive Committee
communicated in writing by airmail the voting list together with
biographical data of the candidates to the General Secretaries,
Regional Secretaries, Organizing Secretaries, and Presidential
Representatives and to the Lodges (Branches) and Fellows-at-large
attached to Headquarters.

12 March 2008 the President (one of the candidates) wrote a letter to
all General Secretaries of the TS regarding the elections. The letter
is delivered to the members at least in some countries.

19 March 2008 the National President of the TS in America sent an
email message to all General Secretaries regarding the elections.

29 March 2008 the French TS Board issued a circular letter to all TS
members in France regarding the elections.

11 April 2008 the National President of the TS in America issued a
personal letter to all American TS members regarding the elections.

Other correspondence between officials and members regarding the
elections were taking place.

IV/3 Comment:

Presumably the Election Committee didn't report to the Executive
Committee that violations of the Rules and Regulations regarding the
elections were going on. Presumably members of the Executive
Committee themselves didn't react to the violations and didn't find
necessary to call a special meeting regarding the elections.
Presumably the President didn't react in regard to the violations of
the Rules and Regulations concerning the elections and functioning of
the Election Committee and the Executive Committee.

.....

V/1 Rules and Regulations:

Other material concerning the candidates shall not be circulated. ...
Other information may be included but must be factual and shall not
contain statements of opinion or policy. The biographical data for
circulation shall be drawn up by the Election Committee on the basis
of the information supplied by the candidates, and shall be approved
by the Executive Committee (excluding any candidates for election)
before being issued.

V/2 Execution:

19 April 2008 the Election Committee at Adyar issues a letter to the
General Secretary of the Theosophical Society in France regarding the
elections (in favor of one candidate).

V/3 Comment:

Presumably the Election Committee didn't seek that the letter should
be approved by the Executive Committee, so it itself violated the
Rules and Regulations.

.......

Summary:

Obviously the violations of the Rules and Regulations in regard to
the elections took place and the fact that it seems that none of the
responsible bodies of the TS (members of the General Council, the
President, the Election Committee and the Executive Committee) didn't
react officially to settle the problems shows that there is present
serious dysfunction of the TS administration. So, it seems that there
is an urgent activation of all unifying forces and the TS' bodies
needed, not to investigate quite clear situation, but to bring the
functioning of the TS within the constitutional frame and to propose
the best solutions for the near future. In my view, a pragmatic
solution in the best interest of the TS would be to indeed nominate
for that purpose an extended and provisory council formed out of
respected and capable members as Sections' representatives. And then
encourage, help and support young members, unconditioned by the past
wounds, to create the Theosophical Society they want and deserve in
the future.

Best regards,
Anton


p.s. If an independent inquiry should be anyway conducted into the
election process as a whole then the standards which are usual for
the democratic inquiries may be of help:

1. Inquiry is taken up on the basis of the description of matter of
public significance which has to be the subject of inquiry, the
statement of purpose of inquiry and the expected extend of inquiry.
2. For the execution of inquiry a special Commission is formed.
3. A Commission has to determine the procedure. The rules of
procedure have to safeguard the right of the parties to a fair
procedure. Its work is based on the principles of impartiality,
independence and competency.
4. A Commission does not confine its work to an examination of
information furnished by parties themselves or in support of their
contentions but takes all necessary measures to obtain as complete
and objective information as possible on the matters at issue.
5. It is essential for the execution of inquiry that interested
public has as much information about the proceedings to assure the
transparency of inquiry.
6. A Commission draws exact records of inquiry (including the full
registration of public hearings) and finishes it with the report and
suggested measures.



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