In his second term Chiluba continued to lose the confidence of the people of Zambia. In 1997 an attempted coup triggered the arrest of UNIP activists and the house arrest of Kenneth Kaunda. This brought down international condemnation on Chiluba. His separation from his wife Vera in 2000 caused many in church circles to question whether Chiluba's faith was what it once had been. And when Chiluba's demanded to stay on for a third term, despite the fact that it contradicted the constitution he had fought so hard to push through, it diminished his standing even further. In 1991, "Chiluba… promised the Christian community that power… not corrupt his character", but this had an increasingly hollow ring to it. Gifford comments the make up of the MMD included a large number of Kaunda's regime who had jumped ship to keep their lucrative positions. "In 1994, Vice-President Levy Mwanamasa resigned, alleging Chiluba's government was corrupt." When opposed over his demand for a third term, "Chiluba reacted undemocratically by expelling twenty-two senior members of the MMD party, including Miyanda." On 3 May 2001 an attempt to impeach Chiluba was made to the Zambian parliament and backed by 158 MPs. The next day Chiluba, "announced 'I will leave office at the end of my term. Let's take national interests into consideration, this is in the best interest of the nation'… his presidency of Zambia as a Christian Nation ended with his reputation both as a Christian and as a democrat in ruins." He handed over power to the newly elected president Levy Mwanamasa, the leader of the MMD, in December 2001. In his first address to the Nation, the new president reaffirmed his commitment to the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.