Marurai's coalition came under strain in early 2008, with an outbreak of bickering and calls for Ministers to be sacked. In late 2008 Foreign Minister Wilkie Rasmussen publicly called for both Marurai and his deputy Maoate to step down. In July 2009 Rasmussen was sacked for plotting with the opposition. In December, a million dollar legal settlement from a failed bid to buy the Toa fuel tank farm led to the sacking of Maoate and a walkout of Democrats from Cabinet. Marurai was subsequently expelled from the Democratic Party. In January 2010, with both the Democrats and the Cook Islands Party opposed to his premiership, Marurai announced that he would not be "calling parliament for at least several months" as no sitting was required until it was necessary to pass a budget. He later announced that he had no intention of calling Parliament until September.