Rally for the Republic

Overview
Rally for the Republic (RPR) is a right-wing political party in Dranland, which was founded by former Prime Minister Julia Breckinridge in 3470 after the dissolution of the Grand National Party (GNP).

Ideology
Unlike the former GNP, the RFR does not claim to be a broad tent right-wing party and thus, unlike its predecessor, does not regard conservative ideals a part of its agenda. The party's manifesto is thus decidedly libertarian, aiming to reduce taxes, the size of government and red tape. It strongly supports capitalism, free trade, entrepreneurship and market-based solutions in general. On social issues, it promotes individual liberty and self-determination.


 * Economy: The RFR opposes all kinds of environmental regulation, seeing it as hostile to private property. It also rejects the theory of global warming and thus opposes any government action to promote 'green energy', instead seeking to let the market forces decide.


 * Taxes: The RFR aims for a flat tax of below ten percent and moderate sales taxes, based on the premise minimum taxation for a minimal state. It is also supportive of the abolition of the corporate tax.


 * Civil Rights: The RFR strongly supports permissive civil rights and generally opposes any expansion in police powers. It cherishes the rights to privacy, free speech and self-defence, thus opposing all attempts to restrict gun control. As for gay marriage, it takes a neutral position on the issue and instead calls for the privatization of marriage.


 * Military: The RFR is in favor of acquiring all kinds of weapons to equip the Dranish military, but is generally non-interventionist on foreign policy. Nevertheless, it has spoken out in favor of obtaining a stock of nuclear weapons.

Internal Factions
Mainstream libertarians make up the largest faction within the RFR (approximately 60-80%) and thus dominate its political decisions. They generally seek to reduce the size of government to a minimum deemed necessary, although they do support a certain level of government involvement in areas such as education or health care to provide basic services for low-income citizens, although only in connection with the privatization of these sectors.

Minarchists often overlap with mainstream libertarians on many issues, but those within the RFR are often more radical in terms of reducing size of government and taxation. They are also more likely to pursue a strictly non-interventionist course on military issues, some of them even taking a pacifist stance.

Anarcho-capitalists constitute the smallest, yet most extreme faction within the party. Their desire for privatization includes institutions such as courts, the military and the police, which most moderate libertarians reject. They are also openly hostile to religion and, while not seeking to ban it, consider it as tied to statism and thus opposed to their idea of freedom.

Classical liberals are the most centrist faction within the RFR, although they are still well over on the right-wing. They support state involvement in education, health care and, to a certain extent, ecological issues, but mostly agree with libertarians on economic issues.

History
When the Grand National Party suffered another disappointing defeat in the snap polls of 3470, winning only 8% after it had long dominated Dranish politics, Julia Breckinridge, former Prime Minister and then-party leader, decided to refound the party as the Rally for the Republic (RFR):

''"Three times in a row, authoritarianism and religious conservatism has triumphed over individual liberty and universal freedom - what this means for Dranland is not my task to judge, but it means that the GNP, as a political brand, has become void of the firepower it used to have back in the days - we need a comprehensive renewal to tackle the regressive forces and do away with their majority - the strategy of the last years has so utterly failed that it is time to introduce a new era for the libertarian Right in Dranland - an era that will, as sad as it is, not include the old GNP."  Only a few hours later, the GNP's leadership council voted upon its last ever resolution before it dissolved alongside the party itself: The parliamentary faction collectively switched over to the new group named Rally for the Republic'' (RFR), chaired by Breckinridge. As a provisional manifesto, Breckinridge published a three-page dossier which differed from the GNP in that way that it didn't mention "conservatism" and "liberalism" while explicitly calling itself "libertarian, republican and anti-statist".

The RFR's leadership circle was mostly made up by former GNP personalities: Sarah Davenport became parliamentary leader, Eric Wainwright and Lawrence Steele served as deputy leaders. The frontbench was filled with those MPs who already held the same positions within the old GNP.