The 2008 Adyar Convention

The 2008 Adyar Convention

Betty Bland

I arrived at Adyar in late December with some concern about how things would go. There had been so many false rumors spread on the Internet: that the American Section would withdraw its support or even split from Adyar; that some of “us” planned to move the international headquarters to Europe; that “we” wanted to usurp power; and that John Algeo had resigned as vice-president. All of these rumors created uncalled-for tension among Theosophical brothers and sisters. Those who participated in sensational exaggerations and false accusations did more to split and wound the Society than anyone calling for reform. In fact, because of the concern of a number of General Council members for the Society as a whole, those who had hoped for reform did not accomplish as much at Adyar as some would have liked.

Following our normal custom, the General Council met on the sheltered roof area of the main headquarters building, within sight of the location where in earlier days one of the adepts associated with the founding of the TS had been seen walking. This is hallowed ground which should call all to move beyond pettiness and also rouse our spirits to act openly and wholeheartedly for the good of the Society—a difficult balancing act indeed. On every side, I keep hearing calls from our members for more transparency about our governing procedures, so I will try to be as frank as possible about some of my disappointments and my positive hopes for the future.

My first disappointment came both in the careful censorship and favoritism shown as to who might observe the General Council meeting proceedings and who was excluded. Maria Widjaja, who had a letter from the Indonesian General Secretary requesting that, in his absence, she be allowed to attend the meeting, was denied entry, as was Els Rijneker, vice-chair of the Dutch Section. On the other hand, non-Council members from Brazil, Australia, and Greece were allowed not only to observe but also to speak quite freely, which had not been the norm in the past. (Both the Brazilian and Australian General Secretaries were present at the meeting.) The number of observers does have to be limited, yet if we are to be a representative democracy, there should be some inherent fairness in determining who may be allowed to attend our proceedings.

Early in the agenda, the nomination of Linda Oliveira for vice-president was addressed. The general practice has been for nominations to be made known in advance but for confirmation voting to occur at the General Council meeting in accordance with the stated rules. However, in this case the administration required the unusual procedure of a postal ballot. This nomination was so controversial that even with the irregularities mentioned below, it took the vote of the president, Radha Burnier, to keep it from being a tie. Many were under the false impression that John Algeo, who had won overwhelming approval for a three-year term only last year, had tendered his resignation. It was verified that he had not resigned, but still no recognition was given to his many fine years of service, and it seemed that he was just cast aside. A confirmation vote on the vice-presidential appointment of Linda Oliveira was never allowed, with claims that the atypical mail ballot took precedence; nonetheless, Linda was declared duly elected.

The same procedure was followed for the appointment of four additional General Council members, with the president casting a second vote to break the tie concerning the vote for Ricardo Lindemann of Brazil. (Robert’s Rules of Orderis not mentioned in the international rules and so has no sway on the proceedings.)All of this resulted in a stacked General Council, so that there is little hope of any reform in the near future.

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. Although many of us were unaware of this until after the General Council meeting, the Indian Section was granted an extension beyond the appointed day of June 6 until June 23to collect votes. There are explanations and counterexplanations, but 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.

Irregularities continued with the vice-presidential postal ballots in that after the voting deadline, General Council members were scrutinized with an eye to disqualifying various voters, such as those from Colombia and South Africa (South Africa being later reinstated), and then with the approval of Greece post facto as eligible to vote. All of this juggling resulted in a three-week delay between the voting deadline and the declaration of results. This does not follow the accepted procedure for voting.

Many in the Council were saddened by the fact that John Algeo, who has been so valuable on the international scene for so long, had not been officially notified that he was being replaced, but merely received the voting papers concerning Linda’s election, just as everyone else did. However, the good news is that now we in the American Section can expect to see much more of John, and he will have more time to devote to his important writing projects.

In the end, after many adamant complaints about rules being vague and seriously flawed, the president acknowledged that the rules are archaic and need to be revised. She instructed General Council members to consider what needs to be changed however; the president has the ability to appoint up to twelve additional Council members. This amounts to almost one-third of the Council and serves to offset the voices of the General Secretaries from around the world. This unfortunate arrangement places disproportionate power in the office of president. The vague rules leave the General Council functioning as a weak rubber stamp. Reforms such as term limits, balanced lines of authority, and transparent election procedures may have to wait their day, but many concerns were raised, and I am hopeful that the seeds have been planted.