RACGP to consider axing member voting for president

THE RACGP is to discuss axing all members’ rights to vote on presidential elections, with one of its former leaders warning the current constitution risks installing a president who lacks the appropriate skills to sit on council.

The possibility of allowing only council members to vote for the president, rather than an open member ballot, is to be discussed during convocation at the college’s annual conference and AGM this week.

The item, to be presented by former president Dr Eric Fisher, follows a constitutional review that will see members vote on Thursday to limit presidents to one two-year term.

“In other organisations, only the board or a defined ‘electoral college’ with close knowledge of the candidates and their performance votes for this important and influential representative role, thereby greatly reducing the risk to the organisation of an unsuitable choice,” reads Dr Fisher’s motion.

“With a constituency as broad as a universal franchise, presidents may come to the council potentially feeling they are more accountable to the members than they are to the council, and are above the constraints to which other directors are subject.”