In 1990 it was part of the National Opposition Union (UNO) - a broad alliance of Sandinista regime opponents - with Virgilio Godoy running as the vice-presidential candidate.

The UNO alliance split in 1993, and in the 1996 elections the PLI, under the candidature of Virgilio Godoy, suffered its worst electoral debacle, receiving only 0.32% of the vote.

During the 2011 presidential election, the party participated as part of an alliance against the ruling FSLN that also included the Movimiento vamos con Eduardo, a faction led by former PLC member Eduardo Montealegre, the Sandinista Renovation Movement, PAC, Partido Multiétnico por la Unidad Costeña, dissident Conservatives, Sociedad Civil and independents.

After many years of infighting between different factions, and five months before the 2016 general election, the Nicaraguan Supreme Electoral Court removed disputed PLI leader Eduardo Montealegre, replacing him with Pedro Reyes.

[4] After PLI and allied Sandinista Renovation Movement deputies objected, Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council ordered them removed from the National Assembly and empowered Reyes to select their replacements.