The history of the PNP is representative of the many complex about-turns of Fijian politics: it was formed by a merger of the Party of National Unity (PANU) and the Protector of Fiji (BKV), which were both formally deregistered on 23 August 2005.
On 25 November 2005, Senator Ponipate Lesavua announced that he would play a role in an attempt to revive and reregister the defunct PANU, on the basis of what he said was public demand.
On 2 March, Fiji Live revealed that officials of the PNP and PANU had met over the weekend at the village of Sorokoba, Ba, to formalize a merger of their two parties.
(Under Fiji's complex electoral system, 46 of the 71 seats in the House of Representatives are reserved for voters registered on closed ethnic roles; 23 are allocated to indigenous Fijians).
Grand Coalition President Tomasi Vakatora said the move was unexpected and disappointing, and expressed doubts about whether the newly merged party would win any seats in the upcoming election.