Initially considered liberal, the party defined itself as committed to Christian values but not subscribing to any ideology.
In its later period, it became a right-wing conservative party with populist tendencies and was perceived as a vehicle of protest against "the powers that be".
[1] The party was launched in 1972 under the name of "Electoral committee of Independents" (Wahlverband der Unabhängigen) in support of the candidacy of Hans Dietl, a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the South Tyrolean People's Party who had been expelled from that party in 1971 for having taken a hard line over an agreement between the provincial and the national government known as il Pacchetto ("the package").
In the 1972 general election Dietl won 20.8% of the vote in the single-seat constituency of Brixen, the largest defection from SVP so far.
After the election, Dietl launched the Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol, while others formed the PdU.