 On 30 January 2010 after the secession of the party officials and members from the Carinthian party, Bucher was elected Chairman of the newly formed Carinthian BZÖ.In a reaction about the issue that 10 per cent of Austrians own nearly 60 per cent of the country’s private assets, Bucher criticised in an interview 2011 that further lack of reforms by the Austrian Federal Government would create new poverty in the middle class.On 18 April 2012 Josef Bucher stated in further cases of market manipulation and reckless car petrol price increasements by businesspeople in the energy sector prison terms were needed as a stricter penalty against the leading entrepreneurs.