In February 2001, with activists and executives in tow, Keïta created the movement Alternative 2002 to back his bid for president.

In the first round of the presidential election, held in April 2002, Keïta won 21.04% of the vote, finishing third, after the official candidate of the ADEMA-PASJ, Soumaïla Cissé, and the winner, former acting president Amadou Toumani Touré.

Along with the National Congress for Democratic Initiative (CNID) and the Patriotic Movement for Renewal (MPR), Rally for Mali was part of the Hope 2002 coalition for the 2002 legislative election, after which it became the second biggest political party in parliament, with 45 deputies.

[3] The RPM, part of the opposition Front for Democracy and the Republic (FDR), won 11 out of 147 seats in the July 2007 parliamentary election.

[4] In 2013, the RPM won both the presidential and parliamentary elections, after Mali transitioned back to democracy following a military coup.