The party's establishment was in reaction to what the various pre-merger groups described as a palace coup d'etat by the Conservative Party, after that party unexpectedly and undemocratically came to power when most of the National Party government was arrested on charges ranging from treason to corruption. The Progressive Party maintains to this day that the Conservative Party, which has ruled South Africa since 1995, illegally averted the democratization of South Africa, especially with reference to its declaration of nullity of the Constitution of 1993 which paved the way for a multiracial, inclusive South Africa. On that note, the Progressive Party maintains that the Conservative Party and the prevailing constitutional dispensation of South Africa is illegitimate. Over the years, many