It was organised and led by Robert Hum, an accountant and immigrant to New Zealand from Malaysia.
Aditya Prakash, an Auckland cardiac surgeon, took over the leadership from Hum after the 1996 election.
Prakash stated that Ethnic Minority were aiming to field candidates in the next local body elections in 1998.
[3] At the 1999 election, many Ethnic Minority Party candidates were in high positions on the United's list.
However, United won only a single seat, leaving the Ethnic Minority candidates outside Parliament.