In 1998, he was replaced by Adi Kuini Speed, the widow of former Fiji Labour Party (FLP) Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, who had been deposed in a coup led by Rabuka, then a lieutenant colonel in the army, in 1987.
In the parliamentary election of 1999, the FAP joined with Chaudhry's FLP as part of the People's Coalition, an electoral alliance which also included a number of smaller parties.
Towards the end of 1999, Speed survived a challenge to her leadership of the FAP in a divisive High Court case, which resulted in backbencher Ratu Tu'uakitau Cokanauto and his supporters splitting from the party.
An election to restore democracy was held in 2001, but by this time many of its members had left to join the new Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua of Laisenia Qarase.
The electorate was polarized to an extent not seen for more than a decade, however, with ethnic Fijians rallying behind the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua and its ally, the Conservative Alliance, and Indo-Fijians behind the FLP.