affairs of the cabinet had gone undisciplined by the president, who had been criticized for not reeling in his officials. The response to the sacking of the cabinet and ministers by Kenyans, as a result, was overwhelmingly positive. However, the opposition spearheaded by the Orange Democratic Movement (whose key members consist of a number of MPs from the now moribund cabinet) expressed that Kibaki had not gone far enough and a dissolution of both the legislature and administration was necessary. This combined with the referendum's failure and Kibaki's inability to deliver on his campaign promises caused an increase in demands for new elections for the entire Kenyan government by the opposition leaders. After rallies on 27 November 2005 by the opposition demanding new elections as soon as possible, the Kenyan government outlawed all demonstrations in support of new elections. The Kibaki government dismissed the idea of early elections, and claimed that such gatherings were a "threat to national security". The opposition encouraged nationwide pro-election demonstrations and scheduled a rally led by the Orange team at Mombasa Municipal Stadium for 10 December. The government called in police to seal off access the stadium and prevent the rally from taking place. All other pro-election rallies throughout the country were suppressed by law enforcement. Kibaki postponed the reconvening of the Legislature, which was scheduled to resume its affairs on 6 December. Cabinet appointment As promised, on 7 December 2005 President Kibaki announced his new appointments for his cabinet and empty minister positions. However, almost immediately a large portion of the appointees turned down the job offers; at least 19 MPs are said to have rejected the appointment. Many of those who turned down positions were members of FORD–Kenya and the NPK, who constituted the political backbone of Kibaki's regime. Both FORD–Kenya and the NPK formally withdrew their support for the Government, resulting in the rejection of the high-level posts by their MPs. Many cited a failure on Kibaki's part to consult with other parties in the coalition regarding the make-up of the new cabinet as the principal cause for the rejections. On 9 December 2005, Kibaki swore in the new cabinet, made up almost exclusively of his closest political allies. See also Constitutional Reforms in Kenya 2010 Kenyan constitutional referendum References 2005 referendums Constitutional referendum 2005 Constitutional referendums 2005 November 2005 events in Africa