The king now signed the constitutional amendment, and Sverdrup and his colleagues took their seats in the Storthing. For a time the legislative and the executive power worked in harmony, and several liberal reforms were introduced. A reorganization of the army in accordance with the views of the majority was brought about, the suffrage was extended, and trial by jury was introduced. In 1887, however, when the government introduced a bill for a new church-law, a division in the party of the left had taken place, and Sverdrup found himself without a majority in the Storthing. He retained office until after the elections of 1888, which resulted in three legislative parties, the "Left," the "Moderate," and the Conservative, or "Right." Neither of them had a majority in the Storthing. Sverdrup resigned (July, 1889), and the Conservative leader, Emil Stang, formed a new ministry. At the elections in 1891, the "pure left," having made a separate consular service independent of Sweden the main issue of the campaign, again obtained a majority, and their leader, Rector Steen, became the chief of the new ministry. The principal occasion of this movement was the rapid increase in Norwegian commercial interests, which, as was claimed, were imperfectly protected by a joint consular service. The Steen Ministry resigned in May, 1893, and a ministry from the minority was formed by Stang. On June 7, 1895, the Storthing adopted a resolution declaring that, with a ministry possessing the confidence of the Storthing, it would be willing to negotiate with Sweden for a peaceable settlement of the matters in dispute. A coalition ministry, consisting of members from each of the three political groups and headed by Hagerup, was appointed in October, 1895, and a joint Swedish and Norwegian Union Committee was chosen to adjust disputed points. This committee, having failed to reach any agreement, was discharged in 1897. At the elections of 1897 the left obtained an increased majority in the Storthing, and, in February, 1898, the Hagerup Ministry resigned, and Steen was again placed at the head of a ministry. The Storthing of 1898-99 adopted a constitutional amendment extending the suffrage to all male citizens who have attained the age of twenty-five years. A bill was also passed, for the third time, removing from the Norwegian merchant flag the "union jack," the symbol of the union with Sweden. This bill was twice vetoed by the king; but, after its third passage, was promulgated, having been passed, according to the Constitution, over the royal veto.