ELSA Politics

Just talked to Christina on MSN. She is in Lithuania for the ELSA ICM and ran for the position of President of the International Board of ELSA. She had 3 opponents and after the speeches she was told to had been the best. Unfortunately being the best in speeching doesn't automatically mean that you get elected. She lost...

ELSA is a strange kind of organisation in which politics, especially on the international level, play a very big role. It turns out that before the ICM the Nordic countries made a deal with the Mediterranean to vote for one specific candidate, which wasn't Christina. She simply didn't have the right contacts or came from the right country (the winner came from Finland). Even more astonishing is the fact that there was only 1 candidate for the position of Secretary General (from Russia) and that she wasn't elected as well, as they simply didn't want her. Now the board is without a very important position, which has to do a big part of the work in Brussels.

I have to say that this kind of manipulation within ELSA (as it simply is a manupulation of the outcome) is a disgrace for the organisation as a whole and doesn't do right to the principles ELSA stands for. I am glad I am out of it already and didn't have to face this kind of injustice during my term, but it still annoys me terribly.

In the past few years ELSA got less influence at certain organisations (like the UN and EU), as this kind of politics also influenced the delegations ELSA sends out to represent the organisation. Contatcs and friends were more important than quality and interest. It might be too harsh to say that ELSA is corrupt, but it should really think about the position it wants to play and have and the people in it should start to act the way what they study; which is, after all, still law...