Participation in Interim Government
Following the December 2006 coup that ousted Qarase, Chaudhry accepted the post of Minister of Finance in the interim government formed under Frank Bainimarama in January 2007.
Chaudhry resigned as Finance Minister on 18 August 2008, along with the Labour Party's two other ministers; Bainimarama took over Chaudhry's portfolio. According to Chaudhry, they did so voluntarily in preparation for the planned general election, although Bainimarama said that "there was a communication from me to about him resigning", while dismissing the issue's importance. Prior to the resignation, there had already been widespread rumors that Bainimarama wanted to remove Chaudhry from the government.
Chaudhry defended his record as Finance Minister, saying that "the value of our dollar today would have been about 20 cents had we not taken the measures that we took." While stating that Chaudhry's resignation was a positive development, Qarase was sharply critical of Chaudhry's performance as Finance Minister, saying that he "failed badly as Finance Minister and the economy has shown very little sign of progress. He's just running away from the mess he has created." Qarase also condemned Chaudhry's participation in what he described as "an illegal administration".
Following the April 2009 constitutional crisis, Chaudhry spoke out to criticise the interim government, "def a press and political crackdown on dissent" in so doing. He described the abrogation of the Constitution as "tragic and unfortunate", and Commodore Bainimarama's leadership as "autocratic and dictatorial", adding that it was now "imperative" to set up multi-party talks -involving Qarase and other leaders- to prepare a speedy restoration of democracy. In October 2010 he was arrested for "meeting with sugar farmers in Rakiraki", in breach of the government's "emergency regulations that ban public meetings". In reporting on the arrest, the BBC described Chaudhry as "one of the main opposition voices" to the Bainimarama government; The Australian subsequently called him one of Bainimarama's "two most effective critics" within Fiji, along with Fiji Times editor-in-chief Netani Rika.
Read more about this topic: Mahendra Chaudhry
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