However, this period saw a retrenchment rather than expansion of the party, which did not expand its support beyond western and southern small farmers.
Other major measures included the large-scale retrenchment of officials to achieve savings, as well as efforts to reclaim tax-exempt lands and expand the revenue base.
Inside parliament, the primary concern changed from fears of an over-mighty monarch to the issues of representation, parliamentary reform, and government retrenchment.
One of kuma's first acts as prime minister was to pass much-needed fiscal retrenchment legislation, trimming the number of bureaucrats on the government payroll.