[1] The franchise was restricted to men, and there were property and education qualifications designed to exclude the vast majority of Indians.
The initiative in changing the constitution lay with Laurent Loïs Raoul, who organized a town hall meeting of the French planter class in Port Louis on 30 June 1882.
A committee was set up two weeks later, and on 4 October it presented a petition to secure the addition of elected members to the governing council.
"[1] The governor at the time, John Pope Hennessy, was an Irish home ruler who advocated a "Mauritius for the Mauritians", emphasising the rights of the Indians and the Creoles.
[3] Kimberley's successor, the Earl of Derby, insisted on allowing Indians to take the education test in their native languages and on lowering the property qualification.