Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania between 8 and 10 May 1926.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1201 The Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union remained the largest party, winning 24 of the 85 seats in the third Seimas.Nohlen & Stöver, p1218 They formed a left-wing coalition government with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, which was overthrown in a military coup in December.Nohlen & Stöver, p1188 The Seimas was disbanded in 1927 and Lithuanian Nationalist Union leader Antanas Smetona was appointed President.
Results
Results by constituency
PartyI II III IV V VI XPopular Peasants' Union26.1 17.5 26.3 30.6 19.5 26.1 1.6Social Democratic Party15.0 19.3 20.3 15.7 20.0 15.0 13.3Christian Democratic Party13.8 9.3 12.3 15.9 14.1 15.9 Farmers' Association16.4 8.5 12.7 15.0 10.7 11.2 Labour Federation8.1 7.7 7.0 10.6 9.8 6.3 1.0Democratic Jewish Union5.7 6.2 4.8 4.1 4.3 4.5Nationalist Union7.71.912.34.7LCRK/CPKW4.54.05.20.51.83.6LDAŪ6.61.35.4Memel Agricultural Party35.6Farmers' Party4.81.70.32.42.70.5Memel People's Party31.4ŽETS1.32.61.62.11.81.2German Evangelical Party1.33.11.30.2Source: Lietuvos statistikos metraštis
Result analysis For the first time since the 1920 election, Christian Democrats did not win a majority. The loss is variously explained. Party leader Mykolas Krupavičius blamed political ignorance of the public, political agitation by the opposition that went "beyond any limits of decency," and financial crisis. Stasys Šalkauskis stated that, during the six years in power, the opposition united against the Christian Democrats. Historian Algimantas Kasparavičius listed the following reasons for the decline of Christian Democrats: Inability to resolve the conflict over Vilnius Region with the Second Polish Republic Diplomatic conflict with the Holy See after the Concordat of 1925 with Poland Internal disagreements within the party, particularly regarding the foreign policy Intrigues and interference of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of Lithuania Attempts at restricting democratic freedoms by administrative means Involvement of the Catholic Church in politics Policies against national minorities and opposition Economic difficulties and lack of foreign investments Difficulties implementing the 1922 Land Reform in Lithuania Corruption scandals (e.g. Juozas Purickis, Vytautas Petrulis) Changes in the electorate due to the incorporation of Klaipėda Region (the region was primarily Lutheran)
References