The formation of the cabinet was supervised by Vladimir Dekanozov, deputy of Vyacheslav Molotov and a close associate of Lavrentiy Beria, who selected Justas Paleckis as the prime minister and acting president.
[1] The first step was the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty of October 1939: Lithuania agreed to station up to 20,000 Soviet troops in exchange for a portion of the Vilnius Region.
The Lithuanian government debated the response to the ultimatum on the night of June 13–14 and decided to accept it unconditionally because effective military resistance against a much larger Red Army was virtually impossible.
During the debate, Prime Minister Antanas Merkys resigned, making way for General Stasys Raštikis, who was previously given tacit approval by Vyacheslav Molotov.
On the morning of June 16, the Lithuanian government decided that Smetona's departure was in effect a resignation and granted full presidential powers to Merkys, while Kazys Bizauskas became acting prime minister.
After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, it took the line that since Smetona never resigned, Merkys and Paleckis had no claim to the presidency, and therefore all acts leading up to the Soviet takeover were void.
In the first days of occupation, Dekanozov focused the public's attention on the "cowardly" flight of Smetona and portrayed the changes in Lithuania as the destruction of his authoritarian regime.
Lithuanian activists, including Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius, claimed that they believed the Soviets and had hopes to restore democratic Lithuania as it existed prior to the 1926 coup.
In internal matters, the program called for disbandment of the Fourth Seimas (the parliament), release of political prisoners (many of them communists), reforms in education and healthcare.
The program made no mention of far-reaching social and economic reforms needed to convert Lithuania into a socialist republic.