Luc Deschamps

René Luc Deschamps (born March 14, 1933) was the fourteenth Prime Minister of Kelssek, serving for twelve years between 1968 and 1980. Coming to power in the aftermath of the chaos of the 1968 riots, he is credited with stabilising the nation while pursuing a moderate and non-ideological style of governance, allowing him to remain in power despite the voters' continual dislike of his party.

Early life and education

Deschamps was born to a middle-class background in Outineau and grew up in the suburb of Laval. He studied medicine at the Université du Beaulac à Langlois, and obtained his Bachelor of Medicine degree. While at the university, he was part of an medical students' organisation opposed to Kieran Pearson's socialised healthcare policies, but he recanted this opposition during his first campaign for re-election in 1972 when he was attacked for it by his Liberal opponent.

Prime Minister

Deschamps's premiership was marked by a dedication to pragmatic problem-solving and governance. Steering clear of ideologically-based policy, he instead consulted extensively with academics for policy advice, leading him to tacitly reject his party's traditional platform of low taxes and small government, although he quietly ended Pearson's subsidy program to help employees buy out their employers and eliminated the Ministry of Cooperatives and Soviets.

Other moves towards the right were observed in this time, such as tight fiscal discipline and cuts to "bloated" parts of the budget, but major overhauls, reductions or eliminations of social programs were politically impossible, especially with Engfehr's privatisations still fresh in the Kelssekian consciousness, which had also sparked an admiration for the legacy of Kieran Pearson.

Overall, Deschamps ran a government which restored much-needed stability after the turmoil of 1968. His humble manner and competence in governance meant that he was well-liked and allowed him to stay in power for twelve years, in spite of the fact that the Conservative agenda never really met with much agreement among the great majority of Kelssekians; it is argued that it was only because he never put it into practice that allowed him to win the next two elections - with diminishing majorities - before the Liberal Party returned to government with Nancy Wright's victory in the 1980 elections.