Josef Bucher (born 19 August 1965 in

Friesach Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia. Geography Location Friesach covers an area of 120.83 km2 an ...

) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n politician and former leader of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) as well as former Member of Parliament for the party. Divorced with two children, Bucher is a hotel owner. After the death of BZÖ chairman

Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of ...

, Bucher was elected ''Klubobmann'', chairman of the party's parliamentary grouping on 22 October 2008. Initially,

Stefan Petzner Stefan Petzner (born 17 January 1981 in Laßnitz bei Murau, Styria) is an Austrian politician. He was a member of the right-wing Alliance for the Future of Austria ''(Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZÖ)''. Petzner is a former reporter (of the Sty ...

, Haider's designated successor as party chairman, was expected to be elected to that post as well. Petzner had to pass the leadership over to former vice-chairman Herbert Scheiber. His replacement as party leader was widely interpreted as the result of the rising criticism of Petzner's former media appearances. Both Petzner and Scheibner were elected two of five vice chairmen of the party (the other 3 being Stadler the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

future leading candidate of the party, Haider's sister Haubner and former party leader of the BZÖ Westenthaler). On 26 April 2009 at the party congress in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

, Bucher was elected as the new leader of the party. 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

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

s 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 In economics and finance, market manipulation is a type of market abuse where there is a deliberate attempt to interfere with the free and fair operation of the market; the most blatant of cases involve creating false or misleading appearances ...

and reckless car petrol price increasements by businesspeople in the energy sector prison terms were needed as a stricter penalty against the leading entrepreneurs. In October 2012 Josef Bucher demanded in parliament for a

flat tax A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progress ...

with 39% as an income tax quota for all income-earners over €14,793.09 per annum and 10% for all between ''Geringfügigkeitsgrenze''( marginal employment border) and the €14,993.09 threshold per annum) Josef Bucher stepped down as BZÖ party leader after BZÖ lost all seats in parliament in the 2013 legislative election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucher, Josef 1965 births Living people People from Friesach Austrian hoteliers Alliance for the Future of Austria politicians