Mick Beddoes, leader of the United Peoples Party, spoke out on 29 December and called on the Prime Minister to call off his holiday on his home island of Vanua Balavu and return to Suva to take charge of the situation. His absence reflected a "could not care less" attitude, Beddoes charged, although the disagreement was a serious one which demanded urgent resolution. Commodore Bainimarama's actions were out of order, he considered, and in a true democracy he would have to be disciplined. In this case, however, the government had brought the situation on itself by its policy of appeasing persons involved or implicated in the 2000 coup. "The Government has never been impartial in its dealings with all matters relating to the events of May 19th and November 2, 2000," the "Fiji Sun" quoted him as saying.