The party was established on 29 July 1996,[1] and was originally known as the Alliance of the Lithuanian Minorities (Lietuvos tautinių mažumų aljansas).
[2] In the 1996 parliamentary elections it received 3% of the vote, and initially failed to win a seat.
In by-elections that were held the following year in four constituencies where turnout had been below the threshold to validate the results of the 1996 elections, the party won a seat, with Mečislav Vaškovič elected from the Naujoji Vilnia constituency.
In the 1997 municipal elections the party's best performance came in Vilnius (where Juozas Raistenskis [lt] became deputy mayor) and Visaginas.
Between 1999 and 2000 many party members (including Raistenskis) joined the Liberal Union of Lithuania.