Istiqlal Party

 ( 1944 Establishments In Morocco ) 

The right wing of the party was made up of older leaders like Allal al-Fassi, Ahmed Belafrej and Mohamed Lyazidi whilst the left wing was made up of leaders of the MLA and younger leaders associated with the Moroccan Workers' Union. It came to include Mehdi Ben Barka and Abderrahim Bouabid. The split was not just a disputes between personalities but was also about ideological differences. The left wing were democratic socialists who were believers in social welfare and state control of vital sectors of the economy. They opposed the presence of American military bases, advocated for the holding of popular elections and introducing limits to the power of the monarchy. The right wing, who made up the majority, were economically liberal and politically conservative. They supported the continued presence of American bases as the government needed economic assistance from the US. They also did not want to hold popular elections out of fear of losing their power. By spring of 1958, Mohammed V had given into most of the demands of the Istiqlal and appointed Ahmed Balafrej prime minister and foreign minister and Abderrahim Bouabid minister of finances and economy whilst keeping palace men in other key posts but in the summer of that same year, the left wing broke with the conservative leadership with the left wing denouncing the Balafrej government and calling a wave of strikes. Bouabid later resigned after the Rif Revolt. At first, Muhammad V went to Allal al-Fassi to work out a truce among the Istiqlal's factions. When al-Fassi failed, Mohammed V lent his support to the left wing by appointing Moroccan Workers' Union leader Abdallah Ibrahim as prime minister. The king did this to encourage the split within the party. This plan was successful as it led to al-Fassi retiring from the party and the radical Ben Barka being excluded from the government. This eventually led to the formation of a new party led by Ben Barka called the National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP).

Together with the leftist UNFP and later the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), the Istiqlal would form the backbone of the opposition to King Hassan II in the years to come. The Istiqlal party has taken part in many coalition governments from the late 1970s until the mid-1980s. In 1998, together with the USFP inside the Koutla and other smaller parties, the Istiqlal formed the Alternance, the first political experience in the Arab World where the opposition assumed power through the ballots.

For the party's leader Allal El Fassi, a proponent of "Greater Morocco", Morocco's independence would not be complete without the liberation of all the territories that once were part of Morocco.

In January 2006, Istiqlal criticized Spain Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's visit to the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the north African coast, reflecting its nationalist heritage.

Istiqlal won 52 out of 325 seats in the parliamentary election held on 7 September 2007, more than any other party, "Morocco's king names new PM", Xinhua, 20 September 2007. and subsequently the party's leader, Abbas El Fassi, was named Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI on 19 September 2007. "El Fassi named Moroccan prime minister", Associated Press ( Jerusalem Post), 20 September 2007.

The party won 60 out of 325 seats in the parliamentary election held in November 2011, being the second party in the parliament.]]Abbas El Fassi resigned as Prime Minister 29 November 2011, and resigned as Secretary-General of Istiqlal on 23 September 2012, following Justice and Development Party victory in 2011 elections.

In September 2012, Hamid Chabat was elected secretary-general of the party succeeding Abbas El Fassi.

Istiqlal is a member of the Centrist Democrat International and International Democracy Union, and an associate member of the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists.

On October 7, 2017, Nizar Baraka was elected Secretary-General of the Istiqlal party, by 924 votes against 230 votes for his rival and outgoing secretary-general Hamid Chabat. King Mohammed VI expressed his congratulations to the new Istiqlal Party leader for the confidence placed in him by the members of the party’s national council.

The Istiqlal party won 81 seats in the 2021 parliamentary election, an increase of 35 seats since the last election, thus remaining the third largest party in the kingdom.

• Susan Gilson Miller (2013). 9780521810708, Cambridge University Press. . ISBN 9780521810708
• Adria Lawrence (2013). 9781107037090, Cambridge University Press. . ISBN 9781107037090
• C. R. Pennell (2025). 9781850652731, Hurst Publishers. . ISBN 9781850652731
• Sofia Fenner (2023). 9780231557504, Columbia University Press. . ISBN 9780231557504

• Official site
• official website in French