It was formed by followers of Melchior Ndadaye from the disbanded Burundi Workers' Party in 1986.

[1] In 1993, FRODEBU won power in Burundi and put forward a Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye.

The Tutsis responded with an outbreak of violence against Hutus and killed civilians in retaliation.

The violence was on a smaller scale than the mass genocide occurring in Rwanda where Hutu were massacring Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

By mid-1994, FRODEBU had been severely crippled by a loss of leadership; of its 11-strong central committee prior to the 1993 elections, by that point only Sylvestre Ntibantunganya remained active with the party in Burundi.