The First Seimas, elected in fall 1922, was in virtual deadlock as no party or coalition could gain a majority. President Aleksandras Stulginskis was forced to dissolve it on March 12, 1923. The elections to a new Seimas took place on May 12 and May 13, 1923. The Christian Democrats gained two additional seats which were enough to give them a slim majority. At first they tried to form a coalition with the Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union. The Populists demanded lifting the martial law (introduced during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence), prohibiting political campaigning in churches, and three portfolios in the new cabinet of ministers. The Christian Democrats were not inclined to satisfy the demands and the coalition broke apart in June 1924.