On June 30, 1887, King Kalākaua was forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution under duress by the Hawaiian League, a group of foreign businessman and Hawaiian subjects of American missionary descent including Lorrin A. Thurston. This constitution limited the absolute power of the monarch and strengthened the power of the executive cabinet. It also raised property requirements for suffrage, disenfranchised many poor Native Hawaiians and naturalized Asian citizens, and gave the vote to unnaturalized foreign residents of European or American descent. Instigators of this "coup d'état" formed the Reform Party, drawing its membership from Hawaiian conservatives and citizens of foreign descent. The new constitution also called for an election to be held ninety days after its enactment on September 12, 1887. Nāwahī remained an independent against the newly empowered Reform Party even though many of its members were his former allies against the National Party in years before. In the special election of 1887, he and George Charles Moʻoheau Beckley ran under the opposition ticket against Reform Party members Henry Deacon and D. Kamai but lost due to the disenfranchisement of much of the native constituencies. Deacon and Kamai would represent Hilo in the special legislative session of 1887 and the regular session of 1888. The next general election of 1890 saw Nāwahī's return to the legislature. He ran as a National Reform party member and won the seat for the district of South Hilo. During this session, he became a supporter of Kalākaua and later his successor Queen Liliʻuokalani. In this session, Nāwahī joined with many other leading National Reform politicians in calling for a constitutional convention to draft a replacement to the existing Bayonet Constitution. A bill was drafted and submitted by Representative Kalua. However, when the constitutional convention bill went up for the vote of the legislature on October 1, it was defeated by a vote of 24 to 16. In the election of 1892 Nāwahī changed party alliance and ran as a candidate for the newly created National Liberal Party, defeating Reform candidate Robert Rycroft for the seat of South Hilo in the House of Representatives. The Liberal Party advocated for a constitutional convention to draft a replacement to the unpopular Bayonet Constitution and increased Native Hawaiian participation in the government. The party was divided between radicals and more conciliatory groups. Nāwahī and William Pūnohu White (the representative of Lahaina) soon became the leaders of the factions of the Liberals loyal to the queen against the more radical members including John E. Bush and Robert William Wilcox, who were advocating for drastic changes such as increased power for the people and a republican form of government.