There is one certain question that will be addressed by the upcoming OUSA elections, and that is: who shall replace Logan Edgar? Edgar is a President who won office and then gave us the punchline to the joke that was his campaign of empty slogans and irrelevant promises. As if to put the messages I'm about to express to justice, media coverage and accounts of his actions lend to the impression that the seriousness that must come with the leadership of the OUSA is lost on him. For Edgar, it appears the association is nothing more than a dialysis machine to keep his fragile ego alive.

Though, and it might come as a surprise to Edgar, it is not all about him. The Executive have much to be grateful with the Edgar presidency; his immaturity has hidden the culpability of the Executive who must think he's easy prey. An overall view of this muddled situation is clear to see: the Executive maneuvers itself into a comfortable position and Edgar pretends to be a revolutionary hero while the history of our association burns.

Students who will make the effort to vote in future elections for the Executive and the President, and thus express their confidence in the future existence of our association, will have a major decision in front of them. Why? This will not be an ordinary election. We will not just be deciding who will represent us as a figurehead of this university's student body, we will also be deciding who will lead our association as it sails into stormy seas. Contributing to the storm, will be voluntary membership.

There have been many reasons given against voluntary membership, but none are all too hardy to stack up against it. Neither have those very reasons roused the silent majority the compulsionists thought were behind them. Let us not be fooled: the OUSA will be the victim but the villains won't be found on the front benches of Parliament - though no doubt they will be made to be scapegoats. It will be the student leaders who took advantage of compulsory membership's bounty of coerced wealth who should be blamed. It is compulsory membership which has made possible the wreckless spending, self-righteous attitudes and alienating partisanship the OUSA have been able to undertake with impunity. As a result, a vast amount of the student population at Otago no longer see the relevance of the OUSA. The OUSA, and student associations in general, have dispensed with their friends, and now when it needs friends most, none can be found.

It is important to understand what voluntary membership will mean for our association: it will be the transfer of power from the Executive to the students and nothing could be more frightening to those who derive power from the current arrangements. Voluntary membership is not a threat to the organisation of student bodies, just to those who abuse the trust of those bodies.

Apathy, voluntary membership and future viability are the issues that aspiring and incumbent leaders alike must take seriously in their campaigns in the next student elections. Ultimately, the political spectrum in the impending student election will not be between the left and the right; it will be between competent, proactive leadership at one end and mocking, self-serving leadership at the other. More importantly, the triumph of one over the other will be a telling referendum on the future of this student association.

If students want no more OUSA, they will either vote for Logan Edgar or his equivalent. If students love the OUSA, then those candidates who accept the principles of voluntary membership and display mature, competent leadership will continue the life of our association. You will know who to look for by how relevant the issues they represent are to the future of the OUSA and what you, as a member, want from it.

It is no easy task being at the top. It must be said that despite the product we get from our leaders, it takes admirable courage and dedication to go through with the job and to put one's reputation on the line. But our current leaders have been found wanting. No student election at Otago will ever be as important at this one. Logan Edgar has been elected and we have had a laugh and a giggle. But now its time to get to work and restore the OUSA to full health.