in a cabinet reshuffle. However, she was still the legal Vice-President because the post was mandated by the constitution. She was urged by DPP spokesman Hetherwick Ntaba to resign as Vice-President. Factions in DPP The relationship between Banda and President Bingu wa Mutharika had become increasingly tense because of Mutharika's attempts to position his own brother, Peter Mutharika, as his successor. Although she was fired from the position as Vice-President of the DPP together with Second Vice-President Khumbo Kachali, she continued to serve as Vice-President of Malawi as stipulated in the constitution. This move led to mass resignations in the DPP and the formation of networks that supported her candidacy to become President of Malawi in the 2014 general election. The DPP denied that mass resignations had occurred and insisted that they were only a few. People's Party Joyce Banda is the founder and leader of the People's Party, formed in 2011 after Banda was expelled from the ruling DPP when she refused to endorse President Mutharika's younger brother Peter Mutharika as the successor to the presidency for the 2014 general election. President (2012 – May 2014) Transition of power On 5 April 2012, President Mutharika died. After his death the government failed to notify the public in a timely manner that the president had died. This led to the fear of a constitutional crisis in Malawi. Agence France-Presse reported Malawi's ex-President Bakili Muluzi as insisting on "constitutional order", saying the vice-president must automatically take power under the constitution. "I am calling for a constitutional order, for continued peace and order. The laws of Malawi are very clear that the vice president takes over when the sitting president can no longer govern. We have to avoid a situation where there is disorder. Let us follow the constitution. We have no choice but follow the constitution. It's very important that there must be peace and calm." Malawi's security forces also wanted the constitutional order to prevail. The Malawi Law Society confirmed that under section 83(4) of the constitution of Malawi, she was the legitimate successor to the Presidency. On 7 April, Malawi's cabinet sought a court order to block Banda from becoming president. In turn, she phoned the army commander, General Henry Odillo, and asked if he would support her. He agreed and stationed troops around her house. Joyce Banda was sworn in on 7 April 2012 as President of Malawi,