Founded in 1982, amid the one-party rule of Mobutu Sese Seko and his Popular Movement of the Revolution, it is the country's oldest existing party.

[1] The party can trace its origins to a group of dissenting parliamentarians during the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko and his Popular Movement of the Revolution (MPR).

In December 1980, Mobutu received a 52-page open letter calling for the democratization of the political system in Zaire (as the DRC was then known) and the permittance of opposition parties.

Nonetheless, despite the efforts of the Zairean interior ministry, many of the authors would return to the capital Kinshasa later that same year to speak with other opposition figures.

[7] On 15 February 1982, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (French abbreviation: UDPS) was founded in Kinshasa with a declared commitment to the 1967 constitution.

[10] In 1987, the last UDPS leaders—Kibassa, Bossassi, Faustin Birindwa, and former deputies Kanana, Makanda, Ngalula, and Tshisekedi—rejoined the MPR, though being allowed to function as a "tendency", according to Tshisekedi.

[10] In January 1988, Tshisekedi returned to Kinshasa and attempted to address a public meeting, only to be beaten and arrested by police, along with hundreds of other participants.

After suppressing the demonstration, security forces arrested Tshisekedi's wife, apparently to pressure the UDPS leader into confessing that he had instigated the protest.

[11] Despite his (temporary) acceptance of Tshisekedi as prime minister, Mobutu would cling onto power as he maintained control over key institutions and continued to exhibit formidable political skills, practising successful divide and rule tactics against the domestic opposition as well as his former western backers.

Prior to the latter, the Commission Electorale Indépendante (CEI) – the DRC's electoral body – had refused a request by the UDPS for seats in the CEI, seats in the High Authority for the Media (Haute Autorité des medias), and the reopening of the electoral lists so that UDPS members could register as candidates for the election.

[13] The election was marred by violence and delays; voting was extended to a second day due to the failed deliveries of ballot boxes to some parts of the country.

He was confirmed as the winner by the Constitutional Court of the DRC on 20 January 2019, after a failed challenge from the runner-up Martin Fayulu.

"[3] Tshisekedi had never held a high office or managerial role, in contrast to his father's long career as a prominent figure of the country's opposition.

[22] However, Tshisekedi, who was reelected in the concurrent presidential election, was unable to form a government immediately due to disagreements between member parties of the ruling coalition.

[25] In August 2024, the UDPS' disciplinary body dismissed party leader Augustin Kabuya, who had held the position since February 2022.