Although the Democratic Alliance in its present form is fairly new, its roots can be traced far back in South African political history, through a complex sequence of splits and mergers. The modern day DA is in large part a product of the white parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party. The origin of the party can be traced to the mid 1950s when some younger members of the United Party felt that they were not providing strong enough opposition to the National Party and its policy of Apartheid, causing them to break away and form the Progressive Party in 1959. In the 1970s, as it rose to become the official opposition, the party would merge with more splinters from the disintegrating United Party and become known first as the Progressive Reform Party and then as the Progressive Federal Party. The Progressives sought to change the system from within, but in doing so chose to comply with Apartheid legislation outlawing multi-racial membership. During this time, the party was led by liberal-minded opponents of apartheid, such as Jan Steytler, Helen Suzman, Zach de Beer, Colin Eglin, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and Harry Schwarz. In 1989, it would merge with two smaller reformist organisations to become the Democratic Party, a name that was retained into the 1990s when freedom was achieved. It was marginalised by the National Party's shift towards the center after 1990, and faired relatively poorly in the first democratic election in 1994, won by the African National Congress.