In 1989 the party's charismatic leader, Rocchetta and his wife Marin, secretary of the party, managed to forge an alliance with Umberto Bossi's Lega Lombarda for that year's European Parliament election, Alleanza Nord. In 1989–1990 the LV took part in the process of federating the northern regionalist parties, ahead of the regional elections. In the 1990 regional election the LV and the UPV scored 5.9% and 1.9%, respectively. In the 1991 local elections the UPV passed the LV. Some attempts to merge the two parties into one failed, but from that point, thanks to the alliance with Bossi, Liga Veneta's rise seemed unstoppable.