George Marlin

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The Right Honourable
George Edgar Marlin
MP, BA, LLB

georgemarlinjg5.jpg

17th Prime Minister of Kelssek
In office July 15, 1992 - September 17, 2004
Born August 28, 1938
Windsor, Noua Cymru
Party Liberal Party of Kelssek
Profession Lawyer, businessman

George Edgar Marlin (born August 28, 1938) was the 17th Prime Minister of Kelssek and was the leader of the Liberal Party of Kelssek. Before he announced his retirement from politics and resignation as Prime Minister in 2004, he was the Member of Parliament for Lasalle since 1980, and was Minister of Finance from 1988 to 1992. Before being elected to Parliament, he was involved in the Liberal Party's high-level policymaking and worked his way up through the party ranks as a volunteer and later, a legal advisor.

Although he left office following an extradition scandal where he was accused of inaction and deliberately misleading the people, it was generally considered to have been a channelling of a general feeling that as one of Kelssek's longest-serving Prime Ministers, having been in power for twelve years, it was time for a change. Marlin's term in office remains generally well-regarded, though his achievements are not held in especially high esteem.

Early life

Marlin was born in Windsor, Noua Cymru. His father, Phillipe Martin, had been a senior Cabinet minister in the Forbes and Machinau governments and served for 33 years as a member in the House of Commons. He attended Neorvins City University briefly before transferring to the University of Kirkenes, graduating with a bachelor of arts in history and social science. He then attended law school at Lionsgate University, and was called to the Noua Cymru bar in 1966.

Career

He became involved in politics through joining the Liberal Party grassroots during university, and upon graduating he gradually moved up in the party ranks while at the same time climbing the corporate ladder at Simcoe Shipping, a private shipping line, becoming one of its executive directors in 1971.

Public office

Marlin made his mark in the Liberal Party by working as a volunteer for the party, working in minor court proceedings for a nominal fee. In 1982 he resigned from the board of Simcoe to take the position as chief whip in the House of Commons. He also was an adviser to the Minister of Justice. Initially considered for this position by Paul Ronning in the coalition deal of 1988 which gave the Green Party the Prime Minister's position with a cabinet mainly composed of Liberals, he was instead given the Finance post on the strength of his private sector credentials. Marlin managed to erase a $42 billion deficit, which was praised by the investment community but heavily criticised because of the severe pressure it put on several government services such as the Homeless Shelter Progam and the Food Cooperatives which were politically impossible to cut altogether, but which were nevertheless crippled by spending cuts. Controversy also erupted over alleged tax dodges he set up as an executive at Simcoe, leading to rumblings of unethical and underhanded conduct which would dog him throughout his political career.

Prime Minister

Marlin ran for the party leadership in 1991 at a time when the Liberal Party membership were grousing over being the largest party, yet not controlling the most powerful position of Prime Minister as a result of the coalition deal with the Green Party. Marlin easily won over Julianne Smitson, who was later to quit the Liberal Party to join the Greens. Marlin failed to secure a majority in the 1992 election, but the number of seats he did win gave him a much better bargaining position with the Greens, who now also had much fewer seats. Marlin became Prime Minister on July 15 1992.

His most lasting legacy will probably be the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 1994, but Marlin stayed in power for twelve years also because of his ability to manage the nation's finances and deliver steady economic growth. Marlin was accused throughout his time as Prime Minister as running on the left and governing from the right, as he cut or cancelled dozens of social programs as well as eroding provincial authority to the point that some provinces had the national flag removed from provincial buildings in protest at the encroachment of federal power.

Although respected for his ability to govern, Kelssekians were generally discontent with his fiscal policy and constant suspicions of corruption and accusations that he had not fully severed his private sector ties. Marlin on several occasions was accused of undertaking projects with public money to favour his former colleagues at Simcoe Shipping, such as the widening of a shipping canal in Beaulac which was considered to have had little economic benefit, yet allowed Simcoe's larger ships to elbow in on the freight market in that province. There were also allegations, never proven, that he deliberately overpaid the government's advertising contracts to benefit friends who were industry executives. As a result, he never won a majority and was forced to maintain a coalition with the Green Party which prevented him from loosening business regulation, especially in the case of environment standards which were instead toughened at the demand of the Green Party.

Extradition scandal

As the 2004 election loomed, a messy extradition case emerged as a man named Phillip Carlyle was arrested in Layarteb on accusations of drug smuggling. Carlyle had accidentally carried commerically-available recreational drugs into the country, which had strict laws on them in contrast to their completely legal status in Kelssek. As rumours that Carlyle was being tortured emerged, Marlin was heavily criticised for not acting quickly enough to secure Carlyle's extradition and release. Upon his return, Carlyle sued the federal government for the income he lost from not being at work while detained by Layarteb and it was revealed that Marlin's government had signed an illegal non-disclosure deal and sold discounted uranium to the country as part of the deal to bring Carlyle back.

Particularly given Layarteb's extreme right-wing reputation, Marlin came under fire from all angles. The Kirkenes Courier, a left-leaning paper, ran an editorial accusing Marlin of being a "nuclear broker to the world's fascists", conservative papers labelled him "dishonest" and even traditionally Liberal-supporting papers like the National Telegraph called for Marlin's resignation. As a mass defection by backbenchers to the Green Party occurred, Marlin finally resigned and retired as party leader and Prime Minister. The Liberal defectors helped Green Party leader Alan Kerk win a majority and succeed Marlin as Prime Minister.