on 19 September that persons making racist threats needed to be stopped, and called on chiefs and church leaders to counsel such individuals. "I can't understand how people who harbour these biases can reconcile their hatred of others with their religious beliefs," he added. On 2 October, Manasa Tugia, the Chairman of the parliamentary committee looking into other bill, said that he would not tolerate hate speeches from persons making parliamentary submissions on the bill, and that all comments would be limited to the bill itself. Parliamentary vote delayed Prime Minister Qarase announced on 18 January that the tabling of the legislation for final parliamentary approval was being postponed until further notice, pending "consultations." This move followed an extraordinary week which had seen unusual troop and naval deployments, rumours of a possible coup, and the dismissal of a senior Army officer for alleged insubordination, culminating in a meeting at Government House (the official residence of the President between the Prime Minister and the Military Commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama (an implacable opponent of the bill), under the auspices of Vice-President Ratu Jone Madraiwiwi. In a statement issued after the meeting, Madraiwiwi said that the Prime Minister had agreed to consider the grievances of the Military and to consult them about possible changes to the legislation. On the 18th, the Prime Minister went further and said that the process of consulting everybody could take a long time, and that it could no longer be guaranteed that the legislation would be passed in time for the 2006 parliamentary election. The same was true of other controversial bills opposed by the Military, including legislation defining indigenous fishing rights and establishing a separate indigenous court system, Qarase said. Jioji Kotobalavu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Prime Minister's Department, said that the bill was being revised, and that the Military would be briefed when the revision had been completed. On 8 February 2006, it was announced that the bill had been shelved because of insufficient time to prepare the necessary amendments, but Prime Minister Qarase denied this. The bill had not been shelved, and would not be, he insisted, but it would not be voted upon by the present session of Parliament. Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry welcomed the postponement of the bill, but said that his wish was to see it "completely withdrawn," while Fijian Political Party General Secretary Ema Druavesi (another opponent of the