[10][11][12] This void lasted until 17 June 1985 when the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNU) was installed by the South African Administrator-General.

[14] The TGNU was widely perceived as a largely powerless body that sought moderate reform but was unable to secure recognition by the United Nations.

[14] On 1 March 1989, the TGNU was suspended along the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435[10] for it to give way to an independent government, determined by the November 1989 parliamentary elections.

[18] The DTA's past affiliation with the apartheid government before Namibian independence continues to affect its current[update] public image.

[19] On 4 November 2017, one day before its 40th anniversary, the party was renamed the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) in order to facilitate modernisation and to shed its "colonial" name.

[22] Mishake Muyongo led the party through the early years of independence, and in the 1994 presidential election he placed second, behind President Sam Nujoma, with 23.08% of the vote.