In the 1966 election, the first in which all adults had voted and the last before independence was granted in 1970, indigenous Fijians, Indo-Fijians, and minority groups (Europeans, Chinese, and others) were each allocated 3 cross-voting constituencies.
This required politicians to seek support from outside of their own ethnic group, without directly competing with candidates from other races.
Continued demands from the National Federation Party for a common franchise threatened to stall negotiations leading to independence.
At a London conference in April 1970, however, the Chief Minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara of the mainly indigenous Alliance Party and Opposition Leader Sidiq Koya of the NFP agreed to a compromise: a 52-member House of Representatives would be established, with 27 communal and 25 national constituencies.
[citation needed] Of the national constituencies, indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians would each be allocated 10, and minority groups 5.