 Announcing he had toppled the elected government and taken control on 5 December, Bainimara said he was assuming the presidency until the following week when the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) would reappoint President Ratu Josefa Iloilo who would then have the authority to appoint an interim government.However, the GCC slammed Bainimarama's "illegal, unconstitutional" activities and cancelled their planned meeting the following week, indicating that they were not keen to meet following the turbulent events of this week.This posed a potential obstacle to coup leaders who are meanwhile advertising for candidates for posts in the interim government.