Green Party of Canpei

The Green Party of Canpei known locally by the abbreviation GPC and informally as the Toucans is a major political party of Canpei. Formed in 1987 by Zhou Nan, one of the most well known green activists in Canpei's capital of Brink; the party is the direct successor of a civil society group called the Green Association of Canpei that agitated for animal rights and the preservation of green spaces. Originally conceived of as a traditional green party with esoteric leftist tendencies, the GPC has moved hard towards the center-right on social and economic issues, being especially criticized in ecological circles for championing the use of the death penalty on convicted murderers, kidnappers and pedophiles and advocating for the relaxation of child labor regulations.

The party has been repeatedly fined by the electoral watchdog for breaches of campaign finance laws and unlawful political advertising. An opposition party in its beginnings, the party leadership had a change of heart and since 2010 the GPC has been part of the ruling alliance, consistently voting in support of the legislative priorities of the National Union of Canpei(NUC). Independent environment activists call it the 'party of green window dressing' for its many frivolous stances.

History
The Green Party of Canpei has its origins on the Green Association of Canpei, a civic organization that began as a neighborhood brigade that cleaned and maintained green spaces in the city of Brink. Founder Zhou Nan gained national notoriety for chaining himself to trees slated to be cut down and going on a hunger strike for two months to prevent the euthanization of Rocky, a bonobo monkey from Brink's city zoo that had bitten a boy. The media attention gave the notion of direct political action important traction inside the association; in 1985 Zhou Nan filed for the creation of the Green Party of Canpei with the electoral board. The novel idea of green causes coupled with the media sensation of Nan's emaciated figure on national tv over a monkey soon paid dividends and by september 1987 the party had fulfilled all the requirements to become an official party. The 1990 legislative elections saw the party garner 2.8% of the vote, just about the 2% threshold for seats on the High Council; GPC had a faction of 14 lawmakers that year. During this early period the party tried to forge alliances with opposition forces and voted against key bills of the government. However there was deep distrust of the GPC, they were seen as a device to siphon opposition votes and some claimed that the issue of their party registry had been decided at the Ministry of Interior and not the electoral board.

Their rejection soured the GPC on the opposition and from 1993 onward the party started to adopt a more markedly pro-government stance. From 1993 to 1995(before any formal alliance) the GPC supported the government on every budgetary vote. The party supported heavy handed responses to the late 1994 opposition-led 'Revolution of Dignity' street protests; Zhou Nan delivered a speech in the High Council in support of the Daxian police intervention to quash the unrest. As a result of this support, the GPC was formally included in the electoral coalition of the NUC for the 1995 elections(that excluded opposition parties) and was rewarded with minor posts in the cabinet. It was after its cementing as a key government ally that the GPC also created a quiet affair with the media duopoly that dominates Canpei's media scene; the companies Canpei Television and Sonli Entertainment Television. With help from these media companies, the GPC began to build a brand as a fresh and novel political force championing the youth. In the run-up to the 1998 midterm election, actors from the aforementioned companies frequently appeared on television shows speaking about their concerns about the environment, not so subtly mirroring GPC campaign rethoric. More brazenly, the party bought political advertisements to be shown during intermissions at movie theaters; a gray area not regulated in current electoral laws. The media strategy paid electoral dividends as the party increased its share of the vote to 6.4%, tripling its votes from the previous election. At least a third of the party's new lawmakers were former tv executives or relatives of such (the GPC's legislative group is known as the TV caucus), making it clear that the media campaigns on television were part of a quid pro quo arrangement, essentially giving the tv duopoly a direct say in legislation pertaining to their sector in exchange for positive coverage for the party.

Environmentalism
The GPC from its inception made the protection of the environment, animals and the natural world one of the key planks of its party platform. It introduced several bills to protect Canpei's endangered species such as the lemon tea toad and the horse-giraffe. However as time passed on, actual green policies took a backseat to flashy and eye catching initiatives. Issues that generate a fast and easy impact on the media (with considerable help of the party's media allies) and pulled at the heartstrings of voters such as the fate of circus animals and tax credits on luxury electric cars are now favored over long term sustainability programs.

Punitive Justice
Contrary to most other green parties worldwide, the GPC does not hold all life to be sacred. In fact the GPC has the harshest stances on criminal sentencing, it has long clamored not only for the mandatory chemical castration of child molesters, but also increasingly demands the death penalty for those convicted of murder and kidnapping. It also once proposed (during an election cycle) that convicted thieves should lose their left hand. These extreme positions have seen the GPC expelled from the International Association of Green Parties (IAGP) for being incompatible with green values.

Traditional Values
The GPC is a socially conservative party that supports the traditional family unit, it considers that abortion is a truncation of the natural human instinct to reproduce and replenish itself. The party is currently pushing for bills to ban all abortion modalities in the two states it governs although they might be struck down by the judiciary. It also opposes legalizing marriage of individuals under the LGBT umbrella for much the same reasons it opposes abortion.