Joseph Mwanyungwa

elected under the banner of other parties. The sacking of these MPs would cause the collapse of the president's minority administration and trigger large numbers of by-elections. In response, opposition parties refused to discuss the budget.^[3] In a press conference of the Democratic Progressive Party held on the seventh, Mwanyungwa and lawyer Ralph Kasambara were heavily criticized; Deputy Secretary General Francis Mphepo stated, "What Justice Manyungwa and Kasambara have done is practically the same as a coup d'état. The act of meeting at night to conspire only borders on witchcraft. These two will be held accountable for anything that might happen to this country."^[4]