Aralar was born in the 1990s from a critical tendency within Herri Batasuna (HB) and Euskal Herritarrok (EH), led by Patxi Zabaleta.

Following disagreements over the internal organization of Batasuna, Aralar broke away to form a separate political party.

Aralar contested the Spanish general election, 2004 in the Basque Autonomous Community in coalition with Zutik but failed to win any seats, polling 3.09% of the valid votes.

The party contested in Navarre as part of the coalition Nafarroa Bai (NaBai), together with Eusko Alkartasuna (EA), Batzarre, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and independents, obtaining a seat for the independent Uxue Barkos and 18.04% of the whole of valid votes, which was the highest percentage and number of votes for a Basque nationalist list in Spanish General Elections in Navarre.

Aralar contested the 2008 General Elections in the Basque Autonomous Community polling 2.67% of the total votes, 0.42% less than Aralar-Zutik coalition's result four years ago.