The party was established in 1992 and the founding chairman was António Ng Kuok Cheong, who departed from the then-mainstream livelihood faction and called for political reform in the colony.

The two lists combined won 19.35% of popular vote and 3 seats in the legislature.

In the 2013 election the association is split into three electoral lists with the addition of New Macau Liberals.

In July 2014, AMN's newly elected vice president, Bill Chou Kwok Ping, was suspended without pay from his position as a political scientist at the University of Macau, after he advocated universal suffrage in a move seen by students, alumni and fellow academics as part of a slide towards unprecedented censorship in Macau's universities.

[3] In mid-October 2014, both AL deputies António Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San intend to seek more independence away from AMN and further reduce the financial support to AMN and that includes 20% of their salary.