 Parties began withdrawing their support from the governing coalition, and Goni was forced to resign and leave the country on 18 October 2003.Goni was succeeded by his Vice-President, Carlos Mesa.While in charge Mesa kept his promises made when he came into power, appointing a cabinet of mostly independents, showing great sensitivity toward the indigenous people, and overturning a 1997 decree that gave natural gas rights to the people who extracted it.