Monday, 13 August: The International Students’ Department’s second Ordinary General Meeting of 2018 was held at the Brian Kenyon Student Space.

Motions were passed to make amendments to the ISD Constitution in preparation for the upcoming ISD elections.

From 2018 onward, elections will only be held for the four executive positions: President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.

The four portfolio directors (Education, Social, Publication, Well-being) will be appointed instead of being elected. Members of the current executive committee are allowed to apply.

When asked to explain the rationale of the amendment, ISD President Mina Kim commented that the past elections were “toxic” and “over-politicised”, often developing into a “popularity contest”.

“By reducing the number of elected executive committee members, candidates will have to consider the benefits of having a ticket against running independently.”

A panel consisting of the four newly elected executives and at least one of the current executives, given that there is no conflict of interests, will review the applications. Applications will be open in Week 9, and interviews will be conducted in Week 10.

To comply with Section 8.7 of the ISD Constitution, ISD President Mina Kim has asked Eden Lim, the incumbent ANUSA General Secretary, to be the Returning Officer of the ISD election. In previous years, the ANUSA General Secretary has always the Returning Officer.

At least three Probity Officers will be in office for the annual election. A new section 8.8 will be inserted in the ISD Constitution describing their powers and roles. At least two will be elected at a General Meeting of the ISD, and another Probity Officer will be a representative of the Interhall International Committee. Candidates cannot be nominated themselves as Probity Officers.

Probity Officers will have the power to refer candidates, who they believe have breached the constitution, may recommend the candidate to the Returning officer and recommend action under ANUSA Electoral Regulations section 3.2.3.

“The problem about having only one Returning Officer is that the Returning Officer was overburdened and wasn’t able to respond to complaints fast enough, giving unfair advantage to some parties.”

The purpose of having at least three Probity Officers is to ensure that there are enough Probity Officers to work on alleged or suspected electoral infractions and misconducts when a Probity Officer has a potential conflict of interest with the candidates involved.

ISD Elections will be held in Week 8 after the Presidential Debate in Week 7.