[1] It was founded on 2 September 1994, but the seeds of the party were planted by the 14th Dalai Lama at a meeting of the Tibetan Youth Congress in 1990.

Mr. TT Karma Chophel was elected the first President of the NDPT, and ten other executive members were chosen.

In the 5th National Convention, the party passed a bill to support Tibetan political science students in different universities.

However, in 2016 the party nominated Speaker Penpa Tsering along with Dr. Sangay to provide wider choice to the Tibetan diaspora.

In May 2011, Tenzin Rabgyal founded the People's Party of Tibet in an effort to bring plurality to the democratic process for Tibetans.