Martin Voobaha

Martin I is the reigning King of Voobaha. He ascended to the throne of Voobaha by civic proclamation on 17 February 2009, following a vote for independence by the Voobahian populace. He was coronated in a ceremony at the Voobahian National Parliament building the next day.

Martin I, is the political leader of the nation. Voobahian power lies in the Parliament, and it's acts are considered to have Royal Assent by law. The King does retain veto power over any act of Parliament, if used within 72 hours of passage of said act. Parlimentary items introduced by HRH Martin I are considered law without Parliamentary consent.

Martin I is also the figurehead leader of the Wiccan Coven of Voobaha and the Voobaha Armed Forces. He has no brothers or sisters. Martin, though twice married, has no issue, leaving the line of succession a question in the Voobaha Parliament. A debate is ongoing as to whether the line of succession would extend through Queen Patricia and her family, or be left up to a parliamentary (or popular) vote for successor.

=Childhood= Martin Voobaha is the only child of Edward Voobaha and Rieta Collings-Voobaha. Edward was an aerospace worker, while Reita was a homemaker and part-time bartender/cocktail waitress. It was through his mother that young Martin learned the fine art of mixology, and at age 13 got his first job as a bartender.

=Adulthood= Upon finishing High School, Martin was accepted at then Tillery Regional University, where he majored in journalism with a minor in alcoholism (the minor common among TRU students). He then accepted a job as an overnight DJ for a small radio station in Tillery, through which he met his first wife, Kimberly. Within 2 years, Martin and Kimberly were married in a private beachside ceremony outside of Tillery.

Over the next few years, Martin advanced his career, eventually becoming the host of Radio Tillery's "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee". In 1995, Martin and Kimberly divorced following a string of allegations, including verbal abuse on Martin's part (stemming from a daily segment on his radio show entitled "WTF is HER problem?").

In 1998, Martin left Radio Tillery, to join TVT (now nationalized as Voobaha Television) as a political commentator. Within a year, he had met, moved in with and wed Patricia Robertshaw (a part-time receptionist at the station), and again settled into married life.

=Political Activism= Noting a decline in services by the then State of California and a rising persecution of Tillery's Wiccan large community, in 2005 Martin began calling for an independent region, free of persecution, where the citizens would be repsonsible for themselves with aid from the local region, and not a faraway federal government.

This grass-roots move became a larger regional movement, largely aided by the coastal fishing community, and by the local Wiccan community which was making a political stand for the first time.

After arranging a series of meeting with regional and California authorities, Martin spearheaded a local referendum on secession from California, which passed with 77.4 percent voter approval in the 2008 elections.

On 11 January 2009, voters chose Martin as political leader. The newly elected Parliament chose to name the independent region after the man who brought them sovreign status, and named Martin first King of Voobaha. Upon the official recognition of Voobaha independence on 17 February, Martin assumed the title of King, with coronation the following day.