Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected overwhelmingly as President for a third time at the 2000 election held on 26 November 2000, an election boycotted by most opposition political parties, and sworn in on 4 February 2001. Aristide, a leftwing president, was deposed in a "coup d'état" on 29 February 2004, led by the Group of 184, allegedly with assistance of the French and United States governments, on the basis that U.S. and French soldiers had recently arrived in Haiti, ostensibly to protect the U.S. embassy in Haiti. (See controversy regarding US involvement.)