A few days ago, Valery Rukhledev of Russia narrowly removed Craig Crowley to become the new president of the ICSD.
It is a bizarre result because Rukhledev made no public commitment of his intentions or vision for the future, so what exactly have people voted for?
Perhaps you voted for Rukhledev and you can explain ?
I wait to hear from you.
Eleven days ago I mentioned the three-way race for the Presidency of the ICSD, for the right to lead the Deaflympic movement for the next four years.
At the time, we did not have much information from the Russian candidate Valery Rukhledev, that was, until yesterday, when there was a press release announcing that the Russian President Putin had given his support to Valery
Whilst it is great to see a world leader of Putin’s standing recognise the importance of the Deaflympic games – we must not get distracted.
We must focus on the real world and the real work at hand. We have an important decision to make and it must be made on the basis of a plan or manifesto that the candidate outlines for their term of office. Since my last blog, Barish has published his promise of “Global Change Through Sports” but, we still have nothing from Rukhledev, all we know is that just like Crowley and to some extent Barish he was an athlete and he has been a leader for deaf -rights in his home country. But, what about his vision for global sport in relation to Deaf people?
If you still have not made up your mind who you would vote for, here are the links to the candidates campaigns again.
We only have eight days remaining before Congress make their decision, you the public can make your opinions known here. Your influence could make a difference. Let’s hear what you have to say.
In 19 days time, the Deaflympics ICSD Congress will hold elections for its Presidency and other Executive positions.
The current president Craig Crowley (GBR) will be standing for re-election against two other candidates. Valery Rukhledev (RUS) and Joel Barish (USA)
The voting for Crowley and Rukhledev in 2009 was extremely close, with a single vote victory in favour of Crowley. This will be 64 year-old Rukhledev’s third and final attempt to get elected.
All three candidates will have an opportunity to address he ICSD Congress before voting to persuade ICSD members to vote for them.
Crowley and Barish have launched their election websites, where you can find more information.
I cannot find a website for Valery Rukhledev, so we will have to wait for Congress.
Although Barish and Rukhledev are not giving much away, Crowley has launched a manifesto as his statement of intent for his second term as president. This can be found on his website.
Extraordinarily, there are a total of 13 candidates for the Vice Presidency posts. 12 of these candidates have also put themselves forward as candidates for Member at Large, if they fail to be elected VP.
There are a total of 22 candidates competing for roles as members at Large on the ICSD Executive.
Details of all candidates can be found at the Deaflympics website
The ICSD legal commission have reminded candidates that there cannot be two people from the same nation on the Executive, therefore in the case of the USA, if one nominee is successfully elected, then the other nominee will become ineligible for election to another position that remains vacant.
Several nominees also serve as officers of their affiliated regional confederations and therefore, should then be successfully elected into the ICSD Executive they will have to resign from their current positions.
Two Big Ears 