Josaia Waqabaca and Maciu Navakasuasua, who both spent time in prison on charges related to the 2000 coup, spoke out on 11 January 2006 in support of Commodore Bainimarama's stand against the main perpetrators of the coup. The leadership of Prime Minister Qarase could mean the "demise" of the Fijian race, Waqabaca told the Fiji Sun. He accused networks within the present government of protecting those who planned and financed the coup. Navakasuasua, for his part, said that if the key people who planned and executed the coup were free, anything could happen. Both men saw Bainimarama as a saviour who could return Fiji to what Navakasuasua called its "rightful path." "These people are the root of the coup culture and once they are put away this country can move forward," he said.