Less than 24 hours after the All-Candidates Meeting, the first withdrawals have occurred, all in the race for Board of Governors. The info was tweeted earlier today by Elections Administrator Isabel Ferreras.
Statements from the former candidates about their decision to withdraw:
Peter Stein: “By observing others I’ve noted that in many cases, unless it’s needed, it’s best to be prudent in one’s proclamations. With all due respect, no comment.”
Nader Beyzaei: “My entrance was a strategic decision, and based on the nominees I decided it would be best to drop out, and focus on what I originally set out to win: Senate.”
AJ Hajir Hajian: “My commitment to “our UBC” falls more closely into the academic scope of the Senate.”
This leaves 6 candidates in the race for the 2 BoG seats: Bijan Ahmadian, Blake Frederick, Philip Edgcumbe, Sean Heisler, Guillaume Houle and Azim Wazeer.
UPDATE: Jan 10, 8:50pm.
Philip Edgcumbe has also dropped out of the running for Board. When asked why, he responded that he is “pleased with the quality and commitment of the other candidates and I trust that they will represent UBC students well on the BoG.” Philip also included a plug for two other candidates, which we will keep quiet on until campaigning opens.
Why is Bijan running for both President and BoG, and how does he expect to put sufficient time into both positions, should he win?
Bijan running again? For the seventh year or something like that. So what will happen if Bijan gets voted in as the President? Will he become presidency-for-life like Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong Il or Fidel Castro? Indeed, I might consider voting for Bijan if he promises to expropriate Starbucks or pose nuclear threat to the US, which I consider a far better allocation of resources than what was done in the first semester.
For what it’s worth, wasn’t Jeff Friedrich both BoG and Prez a few years back?
Can’t say I followed too closely back then, how did that work out for him?
It’s generally frowned upon to double-up heavy positions. Jeff was on the BoG, was chairman of CASA and was AMS President. While he had a lot of influence, he didn’t have much time.