Student Action Has Taken Power Quest Too Far

On Saturday there was a hearing regarding the appeal of the Ratto v. Vakil case. When originally hearing the case, the Judicial Council ruled Mr. Vakil committed perjury, and then unanimously issued a decision that disqualified the Student Action party executive candidates.

Up until a judge denied Student Action's request to freeze the operations of the Judicial Council last week, Student Action refused to respect and participate in the resolution process within the ASUC. It is only after they lost their court petition that the party suddenly became interested in working within the ASUC system. Prior to this, they would not appear before the constitutionally empowered student justices, all of whom were nominated for their positions by a Student Action party president. The party chose to take individual justices to court instead of sitting down and explaining its actions.

The controversy started when party Chair Suken Vakil, speaking on behalf of the executives and offering his knowledge as a witness, blatantly lied in a Judicial Council hearing. Instead of admitting that its members broke the rules and accepting the punishment, the party tried to play ignorant of the behavior of chalk.

After another hearing when the executives were disqualified for the obvious lies and cover-up of their chosen speaker and party leader, the party leadership started whining. They claimed the entire process was unconstitutional and that everyone was biased against them.

Not content to fight this in just a judicial setting, a volley of executive orders started when outgoing president Manuel Buenrostro dictated that the disqualified Student Action candidates should immediately take office, in defiance of the Judicial Council. Hours later Oren Gabriel, acting as if he were ASUC president, issued his own executive orders, installing a devoted Student Action party friend as attorney general.

After this, party members refused to participate in any Judicial Council hearings about their illegal actions and filed papers to take individual members of the Judicial Council to court.

Last Monday the judge denied Student Action's request to stop the Judicial Council on the grounds that the executive candidates still had remedies inside the ASUC. It was only after this ruling that the party decided it would participate in what it called an illegal Judicial Council hearing yesterday. Considering this 180-degree turn in Student Action's opinion, the party has either seen the light of the ASUC's due process, or is positioning itself to file further court cases.

Student Action leadership is seizing power by any means it can. The party members who held office this past year are directly and illegally handing operations over to their disqualified cronies while the situation is far from resolved.

I would like to think there are good people in the Student Action party. I know a few senators whom I firmly believe are people of integrity. It is up to the good people in the party to tell their leadership to work within the ASUC and hold themselves accountable to the students they are so desperate to have power over.

The disqualified Student Action executive candidates have been acting as if they are already in office. In most cases they have been unwilling to work with the non disqualified candidates for their offices. Student Action claims to put "every student" first. Right now they are putting the ambition of four students above all of us.

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