MTCC 1113 (Casitas) passed at the AGM this year a motion to repeal and replace its old Operating By-laws No. 1, 2 and 3 with a new comprehensive by-law called the General Operating By-law. This new version of Operating By-law number 1, although passed at the AGM, still has to be registered on title with the Land Registry Office to become effective.
The new General Operating By-law of MTCC 1113 (Casitas) states: "Candidates elected pursuant to this provision shall be deemed to be “candidates elect” until such time as this by-law is registered, whereupon they will be constituted duly elected directors." (See the last sentence in Article VII (Board of Directors), Section V (Election and Term), Paragraph 1 of this new By-law.)
There are two weird things here in this sentence.
The first weird thing is at the beginning of the above-quoted sentence "Candidates elected". Owners don’t elect candidates; they elect directors. You were a candidate before being elected, and once you are elected, you are no longer a candidate.
The second weird thing is the creation of the term "candidates elect". Before explaining why this term is weird, let's digress a little:
On November 4th, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. He was sworn in on January 20th, 2009 at the inauguration ceremony, and officially assumed the office (i.e. the duties) of the president of the United States. During the period from November 4th, 2008 to January 20th, 2009, Obama was the President elect of the United States. Prior to the inauguration on January 20th, 2009, technically George W. Bush was still the President of the United States.
So, "President elect" simply means "this person has been elected to be the next president, and is waiting to officially assume the duties of president."
Similarly, we have terms like "Prime Minister elect" (meaning "the person has been elected as the next Prime Minister and is waiting to officially assume the duties of prime minister"), "Premier elect" (meaning "the person has been elected as the next Premier and is waiting to officially assume the duties of premier").
So, a "candidate elect" would technically mean "a person has been elected as the next candidate and is waiting to officially assume the duties of a candidate." One can easily see the weirdness of this term. This term so created is neither fish nor fowl.
Judging from the context, the proper term to be used is "director elect": a person has been elected as the next director and is waiting to officially assume the duties of a director.
Even though at times, the term "candidate elect" has been loosely used to mean the person being elected, yet it's not precise. Bear in mind that a proper and precise term conveys the correct and exact meaning, especially when it comes to legal matters such as a by-law.
Sources indicated that MTCC 1113 spent about $2,400 lawyer's fees on the new by-laws which were drafted by the law firm Deacon, Spears, Fedson & Montizambert.
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