Euro delegates disenfranchised at WMA?
The plot thickens. According to a witness of yesterday's WMA General Assembly in Carolina, Puerto Rico, some European delegations -- including those of Germany and France -- were barred from voting. Since Germany had one of the biggest voting blocs in Puerto Rico, this would be a huge blow to WMA democracy. I'm still trying to sort out this story -- which has a number of distressing wrinkles.
The witness writes:
A rule was added to the constitution in Brisbane requiring all affiliates to submit a written list of delegates to the WMA secretary at least 20 days before the assembly. According to the rule, if you did not comply, you could not vote. It turns out, many did not, including Germany, France, and others. . . . Torsten (Carlius) started the meeting by acknowledging that the affiliates in sections A and C had not complied with the requirement to pre-register. But he said that the WMA Council was in favor of allowing them to vote anyway, as long as no affiliate lodged a protest. A guy from Trinidad and Tobago stood up to ask for clarification, but his question was not considered a protest. Then Bob Fine, on behalf of USA got up and formally protested. Torsten asked the USA to withdraw its protest, which Bob declined to do. Monty Hacker (I think) then ruled that the non-compliant affiliates could not vote as stiuplated by the constitution.
Stay tuned.