Wow! (Candanadian political party)

Wow!
Leader	Stefan Bober
Secretary-General	Karl Bober
Founded	April 1, 2008
Headquarters	13-29 The Esplanade New Konigstadt CCR A9K 2J5 Candanadium
Newspaper	The Radish (Kanadiaans: Das Radieschen) Self-proclaimed by publication and not endorsed by party
Ideology	Populism Single-issue politics: Subsidized budget tourism Forestation of roundabouts Maximum bike lane width Public provision of the national flower (poppies)
Political position	Centre
Slogan	Wow! Only real issues Wow! Nur echten Sachen
Members of Parliament	1 / 612

Wow! is a single-issue political party in Candanadium founded in 2008 by activist and journalist Stefan Bober, who has led the party since its inception.

The party has been described by the Konigstadt Times as "a one-man farce", an "ego trip", and a "social venture for irritable suburban retirees". Its only current MP, Roger Pfarrer (Waldrand-Cape Communities NTC), is a retired politician who served as Minister of Agriculture in the Democratic Party government under Chancellor Rüdiger Thaler (1983–1987), who joined the party after being expelled from the Democratic Party for making remarks against the election of women to Parliament. The party fields candidates in Belkhomir and Caskhomir without having local chapters or affiliate parties, one of the few political parties in Candanadium to do so.

The party has gained some international prominence due to its occasional criticism by the Candanadian media, leading to spin-off parties being launched in Trefjall, Akarea, and even Edofasia, though all have taken the form of joke parties. This development has been condemned by the party's founder, Stefan Bober, who intended Wow! to be a serious Candanadian political movement.

History

Stefan Bober is a journalist who formerly worked for the Westmark Observer, before being fired in 2008 for breaching journalistic ethics by sending a fake letter of ransom to the then-Minister of Agriculture, claiming that the minister's daughter had been taken hostage, while the minister had just announced the day before that the government would reduce subsidies for commercial wineries. Bober had been known for his vociferous defence of rural and agricultural interests in his column in the Observer.

In response, Bober founded Wow! in order to seek election to the Parliament of Candanadium, as speeches made in Parliament are protected by parliamentary privilege as long as unparliamentary language is not used. The idea for the name came from his six-year-old child.

Controversies

On May 1, 2016, the party's sole MP, Roger Pfarrer, was ejected from Parliament for the duration of the day's sitting by the Lord Speaker, Gabriel Luther, for showing up visibly drunk to a debate on the adoption of a tax on sugar, burping while the Chancellor responded to a question from a Conservative MP, thereby disrupting the House's proceedings (as much of the House erupted into raucous laughter), and rising on a point of order only to call the Minister of the Coast Guard and Fisheries a "kiddy fiddler" who "probably keeps the parliamentary pages in his office". Subsequently, party leader Stefan Bober released a statement defending Pfarrer's actions, explaining them as an "impassioned accusation" and contesting the Royal Broadcasting Service's coverage of the events. For this, the party has been officially censured by the Candanadian Parliament in a vote of 603 to 1.