Grand National Party (Dranland)

General Information
The GNP is a major political party in the Kingdom of Dranland. It is generally considered a libertarian party, but covers a broad spectrum of ideologies right of centre, ranging from conservatism to radical libertarianism. It is currently led by Jennifer Howard.

Names:

 * Grand National Party (English)
 * Grand Partido Nacional (Spanish)
 * Plaid Genedlaethol Fawr (Welsh)
 * 한나라당 (Kyo)

Ideology
While most GNP members self-describe as libertarians, the party also has a socially conservative wing, appromixately making up 10-15% of its members. Overall, the GNP can be described as socially liberal and economically conservative. As it is in favor of a strong national defense, the GNP's ideology can best be described as libertarian conservatism.


 * Economy: The GNP strongly espouses capitalism and laissez-faire economics and opposes all kind of governmental interference in the market. The party believes that all industries should be privately owned in order to boost competition and economic growth while.


 * Taxes: The GNP aims to introduce a flat tax system with a tax rate of 15% for all classes of income. The party is also in favor of low corporate taxes in order to promote job creation and growth.


 * Civil Rights: The GNP sees individualism as society's highest value and therefore espouses strong civil rights for everyone regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender. The party supports free speech, democracy, same-sex marriage and unrestricted gun ownership.


 * Ecology: The GNP opposes environmentalist policies such as pollution restrictions or the ban of forest clearance, as this would affect the nation's economic prosperity. While the party supports minor regulations such as a license system for forest protection or tax incentives for environmentally friendly fuels, its position on ecology is generally very skeptic.


 * Military: Unlike most libertarians, the GNP supports strong military forces able to intervene if a threat occurs. The party also supports using chemical and nuclear weapon in warfare if the situation requires such measures.


 * Infrastructure: GNP politicians are in favor of completely privatizing public infrastructure, because they believe that the private sector can offer these services more efficient. This applies to public transport as well as energy supply.


 * Foreign Affairs and Trade: The GNP is firmly internationalist, seeing globalization as a positive process and aiming to establish diplomatic and economic relationships with every nation around the world. For this aim, the party also supports the abolishment of customs to promote free trade.


 * Security: While the GNP believes that the state should be in charge of public security, the party aims to involve the private sector by subcontracting private security firms for maintaing law and order.

Voter Base
Typically, the GNP is backed by middle and upper class citizens, with men and women being represented in equal numbers. The party performs especially well in urban, prosperous areas due to its pro-business policies, but also has some strongholds in the country. The GNP enjoys mediocre support within the traditionally monarchist Dranian majority, but is widely backed by the Welsh and Kyo minorities, which is also due to the fact that it has several politicians of these ethnicities in its rows, such as Marit Jensson, who is Welsh, and Lee Jong-Kyu, a member of the Kyo minority.

Traditional strongholds of the party are the regions Ulbrach and Loren, where it won over 70% of the popular vote at times.

History
The Grand National Party was founded in 3243 by Larissa LeCoultre, a businesswoman from Iglesia Mayor, due to her dissatisfaction with the current political and economic situation. On the first party convention in March 3243, LeCoultre talked about her reasons for founding the GNP as follows:

"In our nation, we have two major parties who believe that the state should play an active part in the economy and interfere in the market. We do not believe that. We believe that the unfettered power of the free, unregulated market is the most effective force to create growth, wealth and prosperity. The same applies to society: We want the government to stay out of our private lifes and to stop telling us what to do. Individual freedom is the most important value of a liberal society, and this country needs a strong voice to defend and expand this principle: This is the GNP."

The GNP soon found support among entrepreneurs and upper-class citizens, but also parts of the middle and working class aiming to reduce the role of the government. On a local level, the GNP is already established in some cities, because several independent representatives have joined the party. The Grand National Party will run in the next parliamentary elections, and party officials have stated that they were hopeful to win some seats in the Reichstag.

The elections of 3246 resulted in a GNP landslide victory: The party won 41.63% of the popular vote and 102 Seats in the Reichstag. Chairwoman Larissa LeCoultre thanked the electorate for its support and promised to introduce a capitalist market economy, more social freedoms and the abolition of all leftovers of the fascist rule. With its new power, the GNP also aims to replace Dranland's dictator Adolf Frederick Drexler (NSP) with a democratically elected president. In her victory speech, she said:

"This result is nothing less than a revolution. The people have raised their voice against the government controlling their private life and economic freedom. The message given to us by the citizens is clear: It is time to focus on individual freedom and self-resposibilty rather than promoting an all-controlling nanny state. As the next head of government, I promise to conduct all the necessary reforms to reach these aims."

During the following legislative tenure, where the GNP governed together with the Plaid Genedlaethol Rhyddfrydol with Larissa LeCoultre as Prime Minister, the economy was radically liberalized, socially liberal policies were introduced and the military was strengthened. Furthermore, the cabinet privatized all industry and infrastructure. The censorship of the media was repealed, and all content regulations were scrapped. Eventually, all media was privatized as well.



In the elections of 3250, the GNP won 42.61% and slightly improved its previous result. {C In the following tenure, Prime MinisterLeCoultre continued her agenda, launched further liberalizations, privatizations and tax cuts. Together with the other parties, the GNP-led government eventually overthrew the NSP regime and re-established the monarchy.

In 3253, Larissa LeCoultre resigned as Chairwoman, her successor is Jack Caddock.

In the 3254 elections, the GNP, led by its new leader Jack Caddock, won an absolute majority in landslide victory, winning 56.57% of the popular vote. Some analysts say it wasn't primarily Caddock's merits, but rather a victory of Prime Minister LeCoultre, who's popularity was very high. Others say the GNP sweeped the elections because monarchist voters rewarded the party's intitative to restore the monarchy.

The new government, made up by GNP ministers only, introduced measures such as the abolishment of the minimum wage and the abandonment of border controls.

The elections of 3258 brought a clear majority for the GNP, meaning that the cabinet could remain in office.

The GNP government from 3258 to 3262 continued to liberalize the economy and ratified several new international treaties. Furthermore, the cabinet blocked attempts of the opposition to adjust the tight religion laws and also voted down an attempt to restore the national park system which had been scrapped by GNP Minister Marit Jensson.

{C In September 3261, Luigi Delgado replaced Prime Minister Caddock as Party Chairman. Delgado also led the GNP in the elections of 3262, which he won with 54% of the vote after a fierce battle with the PDM. In April 3263, he became Prime Minister of the nation.



During Delgado's tenure, the government mainly consolidated the budget and cut sales taxes. In the elections of 3266, the GNP scored a clear victory again, winning 55% of the vote. However, it lost a considerable amount of seats on a regional level.



In the next four years, the GNP-PRG coalition eliminated the budget deficit, reached a surplus, cut taxes and raised the retirement age from 60 to 64 years (the latter measure was seen controversial).

At the annual GNP Convention in 3270, the delegates elected Gerardo Gutierrez, a well known philosopher and author as new Party Chairman. Poll showed that it was uncertain if the GNP could hold its absolute majority, but in the end it did so by winning 53%.

On January 1, 3271, Gutierrez was sworn in as Prime Minister by the Queen. He made reforms in terms of welfare and religion, where he tightened the laws. His government also warded off attempts of the opposition to roll back some of the reforms conducted during the GNP rule. In 3274, Larissa LeCoultre was awarded the honorary chairmanship of the GNP due to her merits to the party. In the same year, the GNP defended its majority in the federal elections.

Due to the general dissatisfaction with the political situation in the nation, the GNP lost its absolute majority in 3278, ending the status as unchallenged ruling party it held since 3254. Prime Minister Gutierrez stood down as GNP leader immediately after the results came in. Minister for Environment Marit Jensson assumed his position on an interim basis after his resignation. Jensson announced that due to this mere temporary status as Chairwoman, she would not seek a mandate as Prime Minister, being the only GNP leader to do so ever since the party's founding. Instead, she presented Alina Delarosa as candidate for the office of Head of Government. She was sworn in in April 3279 after having renewed the coalition with the PGR.



In 3280, the GNP surprisingly switched from its neutral stance on the monarchy under the House of Santiago and instead called for their resignation and a reformed monarchy under a new king. The party managed to form a parliamentary majority for a referendum and nominated Jong Won-Hee as candidate for the throne.

The elections of 3282 were a disaster for the GNP. It did not only fail to win even one third of the vote, but scored its worst result ever, losing even more heavily on a local level. Prime Minister Delarosa nevertheless stated that she intended to stay in office, because the GNP actually gained four million voters, which was overshadowed by the fact that voter turnout rocketed from 40% to over 70%.

In August 3283, Eric Crawford, the incumbent Minister of Justice, was elected Party Chairman unanimously. In the following tenure until 3286, the GNP-led government of Alina Delarosa blocked a virtual flood of left-wing bills and managed to conserve the pro-business policies it was pursuing.

In the elections of 3286, the GNP managed to consolidate its result and won about one third of the seats in the Parliament, giving it the power to block constitutional amendments. It also prevailed as strongest party, but its candidate Jong Won-Hee lost in the referendum about the monarchy, albeit only by a very small margin. Nevertheless, the House of Santiago was defeated in the referendum and the GNP reached its aim to abolish the monarchy in its current form. The GNP also performed well in the local elections, keeping its two governorships and making gains otherwise.

Following the elections, GNP and PGR renewed their alliance once more, with GNP Chairman Crawford being installed as Prime Minister. Most of the long-serving cabinet members were replaced with newcomers in that cabinet.

In the following tenure, GNP and PGR pushed for the reform of the monarchy under a new family and for an elected representative as Head of State.

In September 3290, the GNP improved its voter share, gained seats and won one additional governorship. Moreover, its candidate Larissa LeCoultre was elected Head of State. In the ensuing years, the coalition managed to reform the monarchy and make the position of Head of State a permanently elected office. However, the GNP had to take some defeats, as the opposition and the PGR teamed up on several occasions to amend some of the policies that it had introduced in the past.

The elections of 3294 confirmed the GNP's status as largest party and the majority of the coalition. Additionally, Larissa LeCoultre was re-elected as Lord Chancellor. However, the GNP lost one seat in the parliament and saw its lead over the Unity party clipped from 10% to only 5%.

When early elections were held after the PDM collapsed in 3295, the gap between GNP and United declined even more and the further lost seats again. However, Prime Minister Crawford could continue to govern as his coalition had obtained a majority again.

The GNP became the strongest party again in 3299, gaining votes and seats and clearly leading its's strongest rival, the Unity party. After the retirement of Larissa LeCoultre, Harold de Burgh managed to prevail in the elections for Head of State for the GNP. In the following tenure, the government introduced a flat tax and abolished the sales tax. Finance minister Mario Lavazza also abolished several welfare services at the suggestion of the People's Libertarian Alliance.

In February 3303, Eric Crawford stood down as Chairman of the party after having held that position for nearly 20 years, making him the by far longest-serving leader of the GNP. He was succeeded by Mario Lavazza.

When Lavazza assumed the position of Prime Minister after having formed a right-wing three-way-coalition, he had to face charges of corruption, all of which he denied. However, in the elections, the GNP scored its worst ever result by percentages, winning only 28% of the popular vote and even losing its most reliable stronghold Ulbrach. However, it remained the largest party once again.

After the setback, Lavazza was replaced as party leader by his deputy Jennifer Howard.

Leaders

 * Larissa LeCoultre 3143-3153 - Prime Minister from 3146-3154
 * Jack Caddock 3153 - 3261 Prime Minister from 3254-3262
 * Luigi Delgado 3261 - 3270 Prime Minister from 3262-3271
 * Gerardo Gutierrez 3270 - 3278 Prime Minister since 3271
 * Marit Jensson (interim) 3278 - 3283
 * Eric Crawford 3283 - 3303 Prime Minister since 3287
 * Mario Lavazza 3303 - 3307
 * Jennifer Howard 3307 - Present