In a further statement on 8 December 2004, Bainimarama issued a further warning to the government that the military "would put pressure on anyone" who tampered with national security, and condemned the inclusion in the government of persons implicated in the 2000 coup, saying that their presence justified his earlier criticism of the Fiji Week reconciliation ceremonies. "That's why we've always said the reconciliation process was a farce," Bainimarama said. "The 2001 Elections brought back all of George Speight's group except him." He went on to issue a veiled threat to the political establishment: "If we don't act, this country is going to go to the dogs and no investor will want to come here." He reiterated the threat on 4 January 2005, when he likened the military to a tiger sitting in the corner. "You have to give it (the tiger) room," he said. "If you don't give it room, it will bite you," he told "The Review", a prominent newspaper. His remarks were taken as a clear signal that he would not be silenced. In the same interview, he condemned what he saw as the Qarase government's policy of letting people implicated in the 2000 coup get off "Scot free," warning that it would lead to "a criminal generation" as children would be raised "without recognition of the law." This would lead, he said, to a security threat. He said that political interference in police investigations into the coup, together with the government's lenience towards its perpetrators, was making a mockery of the judicial system. "If we don't put our foot down, they will release every man and his dog," he said on 6 January 2005.