The party was formed by Cissé on September 12, 1999 after a split with the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP-Jama'a) party. Cissé had been Prime Minister of Niger under former coup leader Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, who formed the RDP in 1997. Following Maïnassara's assassination in April 1999, Cissé and RDP party president Hamid Algabid vied for the party's presidential nomination for the 1999 general elections.