Sweeping changes to the TUANZ constitution failed to passdue to a lack of membership votes at the organisation's AGM on Tuesday.

It was proposed that the carrier members enjoy the samestatus as user organisations which meant that potentially a telco exec couldsit on the board and even become chairman. Other changes including the vicechairman’s role being disestablished and the chairman being elected by theboard and not by the general membership.

However newly elected chair Pat O’Connell says “it became amoot point because we didn’t have a quorum.” In order to alter the constitution10% of TUANZ voting authorities (there are two per corporate membership) mustvote in favour of the change, which is around 61 members. Only 45 votes werereceived.

O’Connell says that the changes were the subject ofreasonable debate during the AGM, which took place during the lunch hour at theTelecommunications Day event, before they ran out of time. He says that in the next few weeks TUANZ will publish adocument about the constitution for the membership to debate, with a view topolling them on whether the changes should be made.