SGM 2024: Email to Members

Ninety (90) days before the annual membership meeting, the Executive Committee shall appoint a Nominations Committee comprised of five (5) Active members. The names of the members of the Nominations Committee shall be published on the Association’s website and sent via email to all members which email shall invite members to make recommendations to the Nominations Committee of candidates for the offices vacant in terms of the Statute and/or of the office of Executive Committee Member within forty-five (45) days.

The Nominations Committee shall publish the names of the nominees for each position on the Association’s website.

Not less than thirty (30) days prior to the Annual General Meeting, other persons may be nominated by petition signed by at least ten (10) members in good standing, and such nomination shall be accepted by the Nominations Committee and placed on the ballot, having published the full list of nominees not later than fifteen (15) days prior to the meeting.

Voting by the procedure established by the Executive Committee in consultation with the Nominations Committee shall conclude no later than one (1) day prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.

Election shall be by the ‘first past the post’ method and voting shall be supervised by the Nominations Committee.

All Executive Committee Members shall be members of the Association in good standing.

All Executive Committee Members, including the President, the Vice President and the Immediate Past President shall hold office for two (2) years, unless sooner terminated in accordance with this Statute, provided that (i) if the post of President becomes vacant eleven (11) months or more before his/her term expires; or (ii) if at any time the President submits his/her resignation from the post of President and declares in his/her resignation letter that his/her resignation shall become effective from eleven (11) months or more before his/her term expires, a General Meeting shall be summoned to elect a new President.

Each member of the Executive Committee, including ex-officio members, shall have one (1) vote on each matter presented to the Executive Committee for action, whereas the President shall have an original and a casting vote.

On acceptance of employment in a Minister’s private secretariat or a position of trust in government employment or in any position of public service salary scale five (5) or higher or any such equivalent grade in the public sector or in the case of a formal or informal candidature with any political party, an Executive Committee Member shall be deemed to have resigned his membership in the Executive Committee, provided that this rule shall not apply to employment in any academic role in a recognised academic institution.

The Vice-President shall act as President if the President is unavailable, and shall be placed in nomination for the office of President at the conclusion of their term. The President and the Vice-President are not to be members of the same immediate family. Immediate family, as used herein, shall include brothers or sisters, spouses, descendants and ascendants. Upon their election to office, they shall both automatically become members of the Executive Committee and shall preside at all meetings of the members and of the Executive Committee. Legal and judicial representation of the Association shall vest jointly in the President and the Vice-President.

Members of the membership at large can nominate other candidates by petition signed by at least twenty (20) members in good standing and such nominations shall be accepted and placed in the ballot. Any nominee for the office of President or Vice-President must be a voting member in good standing and must have served at some time as Members of the Executive Committee or Officer of the Association for a period of at least one (1) year. The election for President and Vice-President is to be conducted in conjunction with the election of Executive Committee Members and will follow the same timetable, and be under the same supervision as set forth in this Statute for the election of Members of the Executive Committee. The ballot listing candidates for Members of the Executive Committee shall list the candidates for President and Vice-President. The candidates for President and Vice-President shall be declared elected on the ‘first past the post’ method and in the event of a tie, a second ballot will be held, provided that in the event of a tie after a third ballot, the election will be declared null and void and a new electoral process shall be put into effect by the Nominations Committee.

The Executive Committee would like to point out that since this election for President and Vice-President is not being held during an annual general meeting, the term of office for the elected President and Vice-President will terminate at the annual general meeting of 2026, as announced by then President Robert Aquilina in the annual general meeting held on the 15th of March 2024.