The party was established in August 1993 by a group of nine MPs who had left the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy after the government refused to investigate corruption allegations against senior ministers.
[1][2] The new party won five of the by-elections forced by their resignations from the MMD.
[5] In the 2001 general elections it did not run a presidential candidate, but supported Anderson Mazoka of the United Party for National Development,[6] who finished as runner-up.
In the parliamentary elections it received just 0.07% of the vote and failed to win a seat, having disintegrated after the death of Mulemba in 1998 and interim leader Daniel Lisulo in 2000.
[7] In 2011 National Party leader Richard Kambulu contested a single seat in the parliamentary elections, receiving only 193 votes (0.01%).