The party was established by Apithy in 1951. It emerged as the largest party in the
1952 Territorial Assembly elections, winning 19 of the 32 second college seats. The party came first in the
1956 French National Assembly elections, returning Apithy to the Assembly. The PRD went on to win the
1957 Territorial Assembly elections, taking 35 of the 60 seats. In 1958 the party merged with the
Dahomeyan Democratic Rally (RDD) to form the
Dahomeyan Progressive Party, which was to be the Dahomeyan branch of the
African Regroupment Party. The PRD also won the
1959 elections, despite receiving fewer votes than the
Dahomeyan Democratic Union (UDD). Due to accusations of fraud, it later agreed to give nine seats to the UDD, but remained the largest party in the Assembly. In February 1960 it was transformed into the
Dahomey Nationalist Party (
Parti des Nationalistes du Dahomey, PND) after admitting federalists led by
Émile Derlin Zinsou. In November 1960 the PND agreed to merge with the RDD and the National Liberation Movement led by
Jean Pliya and
Albert Teveodjré, this time under the name
Dahomeyan Unity Party. ==References==