The characteristic feature of the party was the link of the agrarian oligarchy with the commercial bourgeoisie, i.e. a union of the most conservative segments of the country.

'[8] In 1984, the party was part of the Democratic Opposition Alliance (ADO), which lost the presidential and legislative elections following suspected widespread fraud by the military.

They openly campaigned—with strikes and street demonstrations, which were violently suppressed—to effect the resignation and removal of General Manuel Noriega, who was accused of drug trafficking, electoral fraud, corruption, and murder.

[10] In May 1989, the MOLIRENA was again part of the Democratic Alliance of Civic Opposition (DAOC) coalition, which supported the presidential candidacy of Guillermo Endara of the Arnulfista Party,[11] after the official ratification of the results following the US military invasion in December.

[12] For the 1994 Panamanian general election, the party was the main component of the Alliance for Change '94, with MOLIRENA's Rubén Dario Carles as the coalition's presidential candidate.