From what I read, they tried to reach out and got radio silence and saw an opportunity to force comms with the soft fork before they were voted out like what has just happened. I think the end result is basically the same, they would have been kicked out sooner or later.

It's just good to see the length at which these so-called decentralisation evangelists are willing to go to keep control, he showed his hands and it looks plenty filthy to me, but that's just my opinion