On May 25, 1990, former Prime Minister Maigari Bello Bouba, then in exile, announced the formation of a new party, the National Union for Democracy and Progress in Cameroon, in Paris.
The party was officially established in Cameroon, as the National Union for Democracy and Progress, at a meeting in Douala on February 9, 1991.
[1] At the Congress, Bello Bouba became President of the UNDP, ousting its previous leader, Samuel Eboua [fr].
[6] In the presidential election held on October 11, 1992, Bello Bouba placed third, behind President Paul Biya and Social Democratic Front (SDF) candidate John Fru Ndi,[10] receiving 19.2% of the vote.
[6][14] It participated in the opposition boycott, based on the lack of an independent electoral commission, of the October 1997 presidential election, which was easily won by Biya.
[12] The UNDP won only one seat in the June 2002 parliamentary election,[15][16] that of Amadou Mohaman in Mayo-Oula constituency in North Province.
[18] Acting without Bello Bouba's approval, UNDP Vice-President Célestin Bedzigui held discussions with SDF Vice-Chairman Maïdadi Saïdou in 2002 about how to achieve democratic change in Cameroon.