1926 Lithuanian parliamentary election
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Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania between 8 and 10 May 1926.[1] The Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union remained the largest party, winning 24 of the 85 seats in the third Seimas.[2] They formed a left-wing coalition government with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, which was overthrown in a military coup in December.[3] The Seimas was disbanded in 1927 and Lithuanian Nationalist Union leader Antanas Smetona was appointed President.[3]
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8–10 May 1926
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All 85 seats in the Seimas 43 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Results
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union | 225,797 | 22.20 | 22 | +6 | |
| Social Democratic Party | 173,250 | 17.03 | 15 | +7 | |
| Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party | 128,126 | 12.59 | 14 | 0 | |
| Farmers' Association | 113,819 | 11.19 | 11 | –3 | |
| Labour Federation | 79,315 | 7.80 | 5 | –7 | |
| Democratic Jewish Union | 47,142 | 4.63 | 3 | New | |
| Lithuanian Nationalist Union | 43,841 | 4.31 | 3 | New | |
| Central Polish Electoral Committee | 31,349 | 3.08 | 3 | –1 | |
| Party of Polish Workers, Artisans and Farmers | 24,473 | 2.41 | 1 | New | |
| Memel Agricultural Party | 20,944 | 2.06 | 6 | New | |
| Farmers' Party | 18,741 | 1.84 | 2 | +2 | |
| Memel People's Party | 18,496 | 1.82 | 0 | New | |
| Jewish Economic and Religious Party | 16,702 | 1.64 | 0 | New | |
| German Evangelical Party | 9,658 | 0.95 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Russians and Belarusians | 8,022 | 0.79 | 0 | 0 | |
| Memel Workers' Party | 3,000 | 0.29 | 0 | New | |
| Union of Latvians in Lithuania | 2,358 | 0.23 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Catholics and Abstainers | 2,343 | 0.23 | 0 | New | |
| Company of House and Land Owners | 2,235 | 0.22 | 0 | New | |
| Union of Russian Democrats | 1,617 | 0.16 | 0 | New | |
| Union of Evangelical Lutherans | 1,340 | 0.13 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Public Servants of Klaipėda | 1,158 | 0.11 | 0 | New | |
| Party for an Autonomous Klaipėda | 937 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Samogitian Women | 828 | 0.08 | 0 | New | |
| Poles of Jonava | 431 | 0.04 | 0 | New | |
| German Evangelicals of Marijampolė | 404 | 0.04 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Polish Farmers and Workers | 256 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Polish Workers | 253 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lithuanian National Organisation in Kedainiai | 230 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Evangelical Lithuanians | 203 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Catholic Nationalists | 169 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Polish Party "For Creed and Homeland" | 149 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Polish Catholic Party | 116 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tenants' Party | 94 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Public Servants | 71 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Workers groups (6) | 20,074 | 1.97 | 0 | 0 | |
| Poor peasants and small farmers groups | 19,352 | 1.90 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 1,017,293 | 100.00 | 85 | +7 | |
| Valid votes | 1,017,293 | 99.79 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 2,178 | 0.21 | |||
| Total votes | 1,019,471 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,179,538 | 86.43 | |||
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Ragauskas & Tamošaitis,[4] Lietuvos statistikos metraštis (without seats)[5] | |||||
Results by constituency
| Party | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | X | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Popular Peasants' Union | 26.1 | 17.5 | 26.3 | 30.6 | 19.5 | 26.1 | 1.6 | |
| Social Democratic Party | 15.0 | 19.3 | 20.3 | 15.7 | 20.0 | 15.0 | 13.3 | |
| Christian Democratic Party | 13.8 | 9.3 | 12.3 | 15.9 | 14.1 | 15.9 | N/a | |
| Farmers' Association | 16.4 | 8.5 | 12.7 | 15.0 | 10.7 | 11.2 | N/a | |
| Labour Federation | 8.1 | 7.7 | 7.0 | 10.6 | 9.8 | 6.3 | 1.0 | |
| Democratic Jewish Union | 5.7 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 | N/a | |
| Nationalist Union | N/a | 7.7 | 1.9 | 12.3 | 4.7 | N/a | N/a | |
| LCRK/CPKW | 4.5 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 3.6 | N/a | |
| LDAŪ | N/a | 6.6 | N/a | N/a | 1.3 | 5.4 | N/a | |
| Memel Agricultural Party | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | 35.6 | |
| Farmers' Party | 4.8 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 0.5 | N/a | |
| Memel People's Party | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | 31.4 | |
| ŽETS | 1.3 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1.2 | N/a | |
| German Evangelical Party | 1.3 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.2 | N/a | N/a | N/a | |
| Source: Lietuvos statistikos metraštis[5] | ||||||||
Result analysis
For the first time since the 1920 election, Christian Democrats did not win a majority. The loss is variously explained.[6] 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:[6]
- 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)