Theos-Talk Archives (April 2009 Message tt00003)

Dear MKR

Thank you for asking this very important question.  

This subject was reported on the TSA website as follows:

`Under Other Business, many questions came up concerning the spring
2008 presidential elections, in which John Algeo, then-international
vice-president, was running against Radha Burnier. It seems that as
of the deadline of June 6 the results were not to the administration's
liking, so the deadline was extended until June 15 only for the
Indian Section in order to recruit more votes. This was not
publicized, and such an extension was not granted to any other
Section. This kind of irregularity in the application of standard
rules for voting is what generated a proposal for a different
approach to elections in the first place.'

Firstly, the subject of the Presidential election was not mentioned
at all under `Other Business' or anywhere else at the General Council
meeting.  The date of 6 June given for the deadline is totally
incorrect and the extension to 15 June also has no relevance.

The President of the Indian Section had brought all the papers needed
to defend the accusations against the Indian Section to the General
Council meeting, but he was not called on to do so.  After reading
the report on the TSA website he has written a letter explaining the
event, and has sent it by email to all members of the General
Council, explaining why the accusations are false.  He has asked that
this wrong information be corrected and an apology given.  I don't
know if he has received any response to his letter, but the
information on the website has not changed.

The facts of the matter are very simple.  Circular No2 which
contained bio data of the candidates, voting slips, and all the
information regarding voting procedure had been sent by ordinary mail
to the Indian Section.  After two weeks it still had not arrived and
further circulars were immediately sent by Speed Post and courier.

The Indian Section has the large workload of sending out the voting
information to 450 lodges and with this in mind the Election
Committee decided to offer the Indian Section a two week extension if
they failed to make the deadline.  The Indian Section chose not to
take advantage of this offer and managed to send in their votes ahead
of the official deadline.

The official deadline given in Circular No2 was 28 June 2008 and the
extension offered was until the 12 July, according to a letter sent
to the Indian Section on 2 April 2008.  The votes of the Indian
Section were received on 23 June and again on 25 June 2008, according
to the list of the dates votes were received recorded by the
International Secretary, I have copies of both these documents in
front of me.

The following extract from Circular No2 contains an interesting
reference to 7 June:

`Enclosure 3 must reach me not later than 28 June 2008, if necessary
by courier, fax or scanned e-mail attachment. If your voting results
have not been received here by 7 June, 2008, I shall e-mail or fax
you informing you of the fact and requesting you to expedite matters.'

I hope this clarifies this important matter.

Best wishes
Keith





--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, MKR <mkr777@...> wrote:
>
> Welcome to theos-talk, Keith. You will find this forum quite interesting and
> you can browse the archives at groups.yahoo.com.
> 
> We are very fortunate that you decided to join theos-talk and post the msg.
> 
> My first question is simple.
> 
> A key allegation against Adyar Adminstration is that arbitrarily Indian
> Section's deadline for reporting voting tally was illegally extended because
> the initial tally is not to the liking of the President. The implication is
> that this was how the final tally was manipulated and thus implying that the
> election won by Radha is illegal.
> 
> I even had a msg today from a theosophist in the West asking me to post a
> msg alleging this. I told the member to sign up here and post herself.
> 
> I have lived several years in India and based on my experience, the members,
> especially at the top levels have highest integrity and no one would do
> anything illegal or unethical or immoral.
> 
> Would you mind commenting on the allegation?
> 
> MKR
> 
> 
> On 3/31/09, keith_fisher@... <exsecy@...> wrote:
> >
> >   Dear Friends
> >
> > I returned from the Theosophical Society in Adyar on
> > 1 March 2009 after serving a six months term as the
> > International Secretary. A critical situation arose in
> > August last year on the surprise resignation of the
> > Secretary, and I was asked to drop my life to take up the
> > position for a short length of time. I agreed to do a six
> > month term and was appointed on 1 September 2008.
> >
> > Since returning home I have had time to read the untruthful,
> > inaccurate statements posted on the TS American website,
> > regarding Adyar and the General Council Meeting in December,
> > including the venomous, destructive statements emanating
> > from New Zealand.
> >
> > This disgraceful situation needs addressing, as many TS members
> > naturally place trust in their elected section leaders.
> >
> > I now find myself in the unique position of knowing the truth
> > of these matters while holding no official position in the
> > Theosophical Society, except that I am an Australian member.
> >
> > I would therefore, like to offer my services to members of the
> > group who would like to know the truth. I do not wish to enter
> > into lengthy dialogue, but I am willing to answer any sensible
> > questions, truthfully, and to the best of my ability.
> >
> > Best wishes
> > Keith Fisher
> >
> > 
> >
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>