Thành Thái
Levecque then forced the Council of Ministers to sign a petition requesting Thành Thái abdicate. He warned them that not signing the request would be tantamount to a rebellion against France. However, Ngô Dinh Kha refused to sign the request and resigned instead. Without his signature Levecque would be unable to claim that he had agreed to the removal of Thành Thái and this allowed Kha to write to newspapers both in Vietnam and France about what was happening with regards to the emperor. Levecque forced Nguyen Huu Bai to get Kha's signature, Bai refused and offered his resignation as well. However, this was not a good idea for Levecque as Bai and Kha were the only two Catholics in the Imperial Court and if both of them were dismissed at the same time, Levecque would not be able to deal with the repercussions back in France.