The timing of the invasion of Parliament by Speight and his cohort pre-empted a statement in Fiji's media about the Chaudhry government's first year in office. Two days after the kidnapping, the Fiji Sunday Times newspaper published an interview with the Prime Minister, headlined "Reducing poverty is our poriority," in which, among other things, he listed the following achievements, comparing them favourably with the record of the previous Rabuka government of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei party over 7 years:
o A reduction in the price of basic food items by removing customs duty and value added tax on such food.
o A reduction in charges for basic utility services, such as electricity and water.
o Introducing a micro-finance scheme which makes it possible for poor people and those on lower incomes to be able to access loan finance to begin small ventures and become economically independent.
o Assistance for women to become economically independent (mainly through the micro finance scheme).
o Boosting budget assistance for education, health and welfare programmes.
o Agricultural development in depressed rural areas.
He stated that "[Alleviating poverty] has been our first priority and, of course, at the same time we have been active in taking initiatives and promoting measures to attract investment to promote economic growth Overall we achieved an economic growth in 1999 of around 7.5 per cent which is quite remarkable."
On land tenure, he said:
"Why [has Rabuka's] Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei party (SVT) not resolved this problem while they were in power for seven years? Because they found that it was not an easy thing and there should be a balanced approach to it. So they are accusing my government of not giving in to the Native Lands Trust Board (NLTB). But our reasons for saying ALTA [Agriculture Landlord and Tenant Act] should be retained are borne out by two independent reports which the SVT government had itself commissioned . . . We have hardly been in government for 12 months and they want us to do what they did not do in seven years."