261:. On 1 December, as it became apparent that a coup was imminent, he branded the Military a bunch of bullies, and issued a strong warning to persons who might be considering accepting office in an interim government, saying that they would be taken to task when the storm had passed. On 4 December, Beddoes called on Fijians to rally in support of the rule of law.
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government in May 2000. Beddoes travelled throughout Fiji, speaking against the bill, which was, he claimed, nothing other than a legal mechanism for releasing from prison persons convicted of involvement in the coup, who were supporters of or in some way linked to the present government. The bill
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Beddoes criticised the ethnic faultlines that characterise Fijian politics; communal voting was a factor in this, he said on 28 August 2005, but could be mitigated if only voters would judge a candidate according to his or her personal merits, rather than on the basis of whether the candidate's
290:, accepted office in Bainimarama's interim government, and asked her to resign from the UPP. He was particularly disappointed, he said, that Ganilau's decision came less than twenty-four hours after he had been visited by soldiers conveying a message from
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quoted him as calling for an end to the
Military's attempts to intimidate the government. On the other hand, he called on the government on 28 November to placate the Military by dropping investigations into insubordination on the part of the Commander,
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which had allowed the release of two men, one a Fijian citizen and the other a foreigner, who had been sentenced to a prison term on 5 April for homosexual acts. This sentence was overturned on 26 August by
Justice
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His second appointment came after weeks of disputes with his erstwhile ally, Mahendra
Chaudhry, who had insisted that the position should be his, despite the decision of the Labour Party to enter a
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instead. Beddoes relinquished the role of
Opposition Leader late in 2004, when Chaudhry finally gave up his quest for a Cabinet role and agreed to assume the leadership of the Opposition.
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in their long-running dispute with the Qarase government, Beddoes began criticising the
Military towards the end of 2006, as tensions escalated to unprecedented levels. On 20 October,
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Beddoes's first stint as
Opposition Leader gave him and his tiny party a national platform. In mid-2003, Beddoes responded to rising interest among
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On 20 January 2007, Beddoes announced that he would retire from the presidency of the UPP at the Annual
General Meeting of his party, on 31 March.
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Beddoes condemned the coup of 5 December, and spoke out strongly against what he saw as violations of constitutional and human rights.
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Throughout much of 2005, Beddoes was at the forefront of a public campaign against the government's controversial
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was temporarily shelved during the election and its aftermath. An amended version was pending, but the
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held on 6–13 May 2006, and was appointed Leader of the
Opposition for the second time on 3 June
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On 27 August 2005, Beddoes spoke out against calls by some for the closure of loopholes in the
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After the winding up of the UPP in
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As of 19 September, Beddoes was still performing his duties only on a part-time basis,
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threatening him to stop speaking against the
Military. On 10 January, he accused the
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for speaking against homosexuality and attacking Justice Winter in the Senate.
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Fijians by announcing that membership of his party, which had been confined to
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Beddoes retained his constituency, with a slightly reduced majority, in the
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on 4 January 2007, but condemned the appointment of Bainimarama as interim
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on 5 January and criticised the President's endorsement of the coup, the
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required to divest himself of his private business interests.
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of 5 December 2006. He was also the Chief Executive of the
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Beddoes welcomed the decision of the Military to restore
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reported. To assume the position full-time, he would be
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reported. He expressed disappointment when his deputy,
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