Meli Bogileka, General secretary of the People's National Party and a former Cabinet Minister in the Chaudhry government, who was held hostage by the followers of George Speight during the rebellion, called for changes to the bill. While supporting the principle of reconciliation, he considered that compensation for the victims ought to take precedence over any amnesty for the perpetrators. "To bring in clauses for amnesty within the framework of the Reconciliation Commission is a bit too much," he said on 15 May.