Popular Movement
ⴰⵍⵃⴰⵔⴰⴽⴰ ⴰⵛⵛⴰⵄⴱⵉⵢⴰ
الحركة الشعبية
Mouvement populaire
General SecretaryMohamed Ouzzine
FounderAbdelkrim al-Khatib and Mahjoubi Aherdane
Founded28 September 1957 (1957-09-28)
Headquarters66 rue Patrice Lumumba, Rabat, Morocco
IdeologyConservative liberalism[1]
Monarchism[2]
Rural interests
Political positionCentre-right
Regional affiliationAfrica Liberal Network
International affiliationLiberal International
House of Representatives
28 / 395
House of Councillors
10 / 120
Website
www.alharaka.ma

The Popular Movement (Arabic: الحركة الشعبية; Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⴰⵍⵃⴰⵔⴰⴽⴰ ⴰⵛⵛⴰⵄⴱⵉⵢⴰ; French: Mouvement populaire) is a royalist and traditionalist rural-focused political party in Morocco. It is a member of Liberal International. The party has a history of cooperating with two other parties with a liberal orientation, the National Rally of Independents and the Constitutional Union, since 1993.

History

The Popular Movement was founded in 1957 by the Berber tribal chief Mahjoubi Aherdane with help from Abdelkrim al-Khatib who founded later a splinter party (Mouvement populaire démocratique et constitutionnel) that became the Justice and Development Party. It was initially a rural party with conservative and tribal orientation,[3] that unconditionally supported the monarchy[4] and aimed at countering nationalist Istiqlal Party.[3] Although the party has been dominated by Berber speakers, it has not developed a distinct Berber agenda.[5]

The present party results from a 25 March 2006 merger between the main party which had kept the original name and two splinter parties, the National Popular Movement (Mouvement National Populaire) and the Democratic Union (Union démocratique).[6][7]

The party is a full member of Liberal International, which it joined at the latter's Dakar Congress in 2003.[8]

In the parliamentary election held on 27 September 2002, the party won 27 out of the total 325 seats. It improved its standing in the parliamentary election held on 7 September 2007, winning 41 out of 325 seats.[9]

The party won 32 out of 325 seats in the parliamentary election held in November 2011, being the sixth party in the parliament.[10]

Electoral results

Moroccan Parliament

House of Representatives
Election year # of
overall votes		  % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Leader
1963* 1,159,932 (#1) 34.8
69 / 144
–
1970  ? (#1) 25.0
60 / 240
Decrease 4
1977 738,541 (#2) 14.64
15 / 264
Decrease 45
1984 695,020 (#3) 15.54
47 / 301
Increase 32
1993 751,864 (#5) 12.1
51 / 333
Increase 4
1997 659,331 (#4) 10.3
40 / 325
Decrease 11
2002  ? (#5) 8.31
27 / 325
Decrease 13
2007 426,849 (#3) 9.3
41 / 325
Increase 14
2011 354,468 (#6) 7.5
32 / 395
Decrease 11
2016 397,085 (#5) 6.1
27 / 395
Decrease 5
2021 534,292 (#5) 7.1
28 / 395
Increase 1
Notes
  • In 1963, the MP run under the FDIC.

References

  1. ↑ Routledge Handbook on Political Parties in the Middle East and North Africa. Routledge. 2021. pp. 101–103. ISBN 9781000293302. Regarding its ideology, the MP makes explicit references to the defence of individual and collective rights, but there are no nods to economic freedoms. Based on the MP's political discourse and action, its liberalism might be considered conservative.
  2. ↑ Willis, Michael J. (2012), Politics and Power in the Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from Independence to the Arab Spring, C. Hurst & Co., p. 125
  3. 1 2 James N. Sater (2012), "New wine in old bottles: Political parties under Mohammed VI", Contemporary Morocco: State, Politics and Society under Mohammed VI, Routledge, p. 11
  4. ↑ Marvine Howe (2005), Morocco: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges, Oxford University Press, p. 99
  5. ↑ Willis, Michael J. (2008-01-15). "The Politics of Berber (Amazigh) Identity: Algeria and Morocco Compared". In Zoubir, Yahia H.; Amirah-Fernández, Haizam (eds.). North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation. Routledge. p. 233. ISBN 978-1-134-08740-2.
  6. ↑ M’Hamed Hamrouch, Mahjoubi Aherdane accusé d’avoir provoqué le retrait du MP du gouvernement, Aujourd'hui Le Maroc, 19 October 2008
  7. ↑ Hicham Bennani, Mouvement populaire: Prémices d’un éclatement, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, 11 April 2009
  8. ↑ Entry on the Popular Movement Archived 2007-11-09 at the Wayback Machine Liberal International.
  9. ↑ "Moroccans favor conservative party instead of ushering in Islamic party", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 9 September 2007.
  10. ↑ "Morocco". European Forum. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
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