Liberal Democratic Party (Moon Island)

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is a centrist and catch-all political party in the Republic of Moon Island, founded by Penstubal as the leftist Pan-Antarctic Republican New Alignment Society (PARNAS) in 2030. The Liberal Democratic Party's identified as right wing on economic issues and libertarian on social issues. It is a strong supporter of the free market economy and is a fervent defender of individual rights in a country where the authoritarian right-wing is unusually strong compared to most other countries.

History
Originally the Pan-Antarctic Republican New Alignment Society, the party's primary purpose was to oppose what Penstubal saw as a radical "Chillist" agenda of "international conquest", named after the person he alleges advocates it, Chill57181. It was therefore identified as mostly a single-issue party and its other stances were hardly defined. It was identified as a left-wing party, however, as Penstubal's own views seemed to be left wing at the time.

Over time, as Penstubal's views shifted further right, so did the party's, especially with the influx of new slightly right wing members. Following Penstubal's election to mayor of Wizzint the same year the society was founded in 2030, Penstubal quit the party and the party became completely independent of Penstubal. The party then split into two - the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Anti-Chillist Republican Party (ACRP) (led by Quackerpingu) - the latter had a spike in popularity later in the year, but after a few years was completely overshadowed by the LDP, which became the second largest party in Moon Island, while the ACRP was disbanded in 2035 after it got only 0.4% of the vote in the 2034 local elections in Moon Island.

Penstubal re-joined the Liberal Democratic Party after his re-election as mayor of Wizzint and quickly became its leader. He refused to seek to put his anti-Chillist agenda into the Liberal Democratic platform, and instead focused on actual issues that matter to the ordinary people in Moon Island. The party was then pushed slightly left (it was considered a right wing nationalist party before Penstubal took the party leadership role).

In 2036, the Liberal Democratic candidate Penstubal was elected to the presidency and he subsequently resigned from the party while maintaining close cooperation with it. The Liberal Democratic Party continued to advocate the same ideas Penstubal espoused as leader.

Platform
The Liberal Democratic Party does not identify with a single ideology, but has been widely described as a liberal or centrist political party that tilts to the left. The Liberal Democratic Party officially supports free and fair trade, although supporting regulations against corporations, particularly large ones. It argues for equal and lower tax levels for all wealth groups. The Liberal Democratic Party is supports universal healthcare and tuition-free college education.

The Liberal Democratic Party is a passionate defender of individual rights. It is a defender of gun rights and has on multiple occasions blocked attempts by the government to impose gun restrictions - this has led to Moon Island having one of the most lax gun laws in the world. The party opposes gender, ethnic and other types of quotas against corporations, and it also opposes enforcing such quotas on the government and Council as well, calling them 'discriminatory' and saying that who serves in the government and Council should be decided on an individual basis based on their qualifications. Some high-ranking members of the Liberal Democratic Party who signed the declaration of independence in 2027 after the Shops Civil War also successfully supported inserting freedom of speech and freedom of assembly as inalienable rights in the Constitution of the Republic of Moon Island.

The Liberal Democratic Party is very supportive of environmental regulations and finds it every penguin's duty to help make sure the planet remains inhabitable for the next generations of penguins - although there are libertarian factions inside the party that strongly oppose such regulations, however. The Liberal Democratic Party supports switching from using oil. The party also supports nuclear energy while phasing out coal and believes it to be the most efficient source of energy there is, while also supporting the diversification of energy sources.

On foreign policy, the Liberal Democratic Party is moderately skeptical about international trade, but supports free trade agreements that would keep jobs in the Republic of Moon Island and would be overall beneficial to Moon Island. The Liberal Democratic Party opposed a free trade agreement with the United States of Antarctica in 2035 that would have led to the outsourcing of thousands of jobs from the country. The Liberal Democratic Party is a proponent of joining the Western Union. It used to support remaining in the Shops Union, supporting further integration of its member states, but that switched as the organization came to be dominated, among others, by Chill Island, and after The Ed became the chancellor of the organization - since then, the party supported reorganizing the Union. The Liberal Democratic Party is opposed to military entanglements abroad and is a supporter of heavy reductions to military spending.

The Liberal Democratic Party supports a modest welfare state that especially aims to help the elderly and the poor. The Liberal Democratic Party also supports paid paternity and maternity leave and paid leave for workers. The Liberal Democratic Party has been described as a center-left wing party by most political analysts and is said to be social democratic on an economic scale and libertarian on a social scale. Among the small internal factions there are the minuscule but still influential faction of liberal conservatives, who are personally socially conservative but against the government mandating what is morally acceptable and what isn't.

The Liberal Democratic Party staunchly supports the free press, although it would be quite hypocritical if they didn't considering their leader owns an anti-government propaganda machine.