The upstart NDP leadership candidate Anjali Appadurai has been thrown out by the party over membership violations, leaving David Eby, the frontrunner and only candidate left, to be soon anointed NDP leader and an instant Premier to replace outgoing John Horgan. In a statement on Wednesday, BC NDP President Aaron Sumexheltza said the party executive “has voted to support the Chief Electoral Officer’s recommendation to disqualify Appadurai as a candidate as a sanction for violating the rules.”
VANCOUVER – The upstart NDP leadership candidate Anjali Appadurai has been thrown out by the party over membership violations, leaving David Eby, the frontrunner and only candidate left, to be soon anointed NDP leader and an instant Premier to replace outgoing John Horgan.
In a statement on Wednesday, BC NDP President Aaron Sumexheltza said the party executive “has voted to support the Chief Electoral Officer’s recommendation to disqualify Appadurai as a candidate as a sanction for violating the rules.”
The recommendation was outlined by the CEO in a report that was obtained by various media outlets.
“This has been a challenging period for members of the party, and I thank Elizabeth Cull, the party’s table officers and the Executive for their dedication to their roles. I know they did not make this decision lightly,” Sumexheltza continued Wednesday night, reported City News.
With just Eby remaining, Sumexheltza says Cull is now “considering moving up the election date,” adding more information would come Thursday.
This comes after a Tuesday’s report by BC NDP Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Elizabeth Cull said that Appadurai’s leadership campaign encouraged members of B.C.’s Green party to leave their party and join to the NDP to vote for her, offering to pay for new members memberships, and using Dogwood B.C.’s list to recruit members.
Appadurai has been fighting against the potential disqualification, saying the rules were changed and applied to her campaign retroactively.
She calls the whole situation an “undemocratic” way to disqualify her bid for the party leadership.
“I believe now close to 4,000 New Democrats and others across B.C. and beyond have emailed the BC NDP provincial executive to speak up against this unjust disqualification and to take a stand for, ultimately the soul of the party,” Appadurai said.
Cull reported 17.7 per cent of the more than 2,000 new members were deemed “ineligible” because of ties to other parties.
Appadurai, however, insists her campaign is not guilty of any wrongdoing, saying the whole process was not fair to her, reported Citynews.
