A general strike was called by the "United Trade Union of Guinean Workers" (the USTG) in an attempt to force the president to resign. Strike leaders said that Conté, who had ruled Guinea since seizing power in a 1984 coup, had become increasingly erratic. They cite repeated scares about his health, sudden and chaotic cabinet reshuffles and his recent personal intervention to free from jail two former allies accused of graft. The two main opposition parties in the nation, the Rally for the Guinean People and the Union of Republican Forces supported the strike, as did the National Council of Civil Society Organisations group of NGOs and the newly formed Civic Alliance.