Bainimarama said on 19 December that the continuing defiance of the court order by the Finance Ministry would only worsen relations between the government and the Military. He reiterated his intention to sue the Finance Ministry on 21 December, saying that a senior official in the ministry had admitted to him that they had no grounds to levy the surcharge. "If people can treat me like that, just imagine how they are going to treat the public", the "Fiji Sun" quoted him as saying. He accused the ministry of displaying "a blatant disregard for the rule of law".