Current vice-president, university affairs Munib Sajjad will run unopposed for the presidency of the University of Toronto Students’ Union in this month’s election.
Sajjad heads a ticket called Renew, which includes 18 board candidates and a team of four vice-presidents. All the Renew executive candidates are set to be acclaimed to their positions.
Current vice-president, university affairs Munib Sajjad heads up the 'Renew' slate in this month's UTSU elections. FILEPHOTO: BERNARDA GOSPIC/THE VARSITY
Sajjad’s executive team of vice-presidents consists of Sana Ali (external), Agnes So (university affairs), Cameron Wathey (internal), and Yollen Bollo-Kamara (equity).
Current vice-president, equity, Noor Baig is running for the Board of Directors on the Renew slate as an Arts & Science director-at-large. Bollo-Kamara, appointed this year as vice-president, campus life, is running for Baig’s current role of vice-president, equity.
Acclaimed positions will be put to a “confirmation vote” with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ options on the ballot alongside the candidate’s name. According to the electoral code, positions where the candidate receives a majority of ‘no’ votes will be declared vacant.
“In my past term as the vice-president, university affairs, I saw first hand how important it was to unite all 47,000 members to build campus life, fight for our rights and representation as students, and provide cost-saving services,” said Sajjad in a statement released late Sunday night.
Sajjad appeared poised for a campaign emphasizing his work in exposing illegal ancillary fees and opposing tuition increases.
It is not clear what form a scheduled debate on March 7 will take. Sajjad could field questions from the audience, in a similar structure to the 2010 election.
Several opposition candidates are seeking positions on the UTSU’s Board of Directors, an oversight body with representatives from each of the colleges.
Ben Crase is running for Trinity College’s one board seat, while simultaneously seeking to succeed Sam Greene as Trinity’s co-head of college. Crase is a co-author of a recent report examining how Trinity could sever financial ties with the UTSU.
In his candidate statement, Crase pledged to “do everything I can to ensure that Trinity students are no longer fee paying members of the UTSU” by the time his term would begin in September 2013.
No other candidate referenced the ongoing defederation crisis in their opening statements.
The candidates convened Sunday in a closed-door all-candidates meeting. The campaign period begins Monday. Polls are open March 12 to 14.
