Wikipedia

Istiqlal Party

For other uses, see Istiqlal Party (disambiguation).


Istiqlal Party
حزب الإستقلال
ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵍⵉⵙⵜⵉⵇⵍⴰⵍ
Parti Istiqlal
General SecretaryNizar Baraka
FounderAhmed Balafrej
FoundedJanuary 1944; 81 years ago (1944-01)
Headquarters4, rue Ibn Toumert, Rabat
NewspaperAl-Alam (Arab)
L'Opinion (French)
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right
Regional affiliationDemocrat Union of Africa
European affiliationEPP (regional partner)
ACRE (2014–2018)
International affiliationInternational Democracy Union[6]
Centrist Democrat International
House of Representatives
81 / 395
House of Councillors
24 / 120
Website
www.istiqlal.info Edit this at Wikidata

The Istiqlal Party (Arabic: حزب الإستقلال, romanized: ḥizb al-istiqlāl, lit. 'Independence Party'; Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵍⵉⵙⵜⵉⵇⵍⴰⵍ, romanized: akabar n listiqlal; French: Parti Istiqlal) is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and monarchist party and a member of the Centrist Democrat International and International Democracy Union. Istiqlal headed a coalition government under Abbas El Fassi from 19 September 2007 to 29 November 2011. From 2013 to 2021, it was part of the opposition. Since 2021 it is part of a coalition government led by Aziz Akhannouch.

The party emerged in January 1944 during the anti-colonial struggle against French and Spanish imperial rule,[7][8] making it the oldest active political party in Morocco.[9]

History and profile

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Foundation

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Ahmed Balafrej, first president of the Istiqlal Party c. 1950 – c. 1951[10]

The Istiqlal Party was founded by former members of the Moroccan Action Committee [fr; ar] in January 1944[7] or 1943.[11] The Istiqlal held strongly Arab nationalist views[2] and its nationalism was bourgeois and was opposed to traditional institutions.[12] It functioned as the main political force struggling for the independence of Morocco. The initial goal stated in their manifesto was the independence from France “within the framework of a constitutional-democratic monarchy”.[13] The leadership of Istiqlal was successful in overcoming “petty rivalries”[14] between the different parties and anticolonial organizations and unifying the nationalist movement. This factor added to the campaign of Moroccan activists spread across the world and contributed to achieving international visibility and support for their cause.[citation needed]

Transnational advocacy for independence

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Establishing crucial contacts for advocating the Moroccan independence abroad happened in Tangier, since it was assigned as an international zone and thus under less influence of the French or Spanish. In Tangier Moroccan Nationalists established contact with Americans residing in Morocco, which among others provided US intelligence contacts. Outside of Morocco, important developments in advocating for Moroccan independence happened in Cairo (Egypt), within the United Nations, and in Paris (France). Advocating in France was primarily focussed on communicating with French society, disseminating and exchanging information, and mobilizing students.[15]

After independence

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However, once the country achieved independence in 1956, the party moved into opposition against the monarchy, which had asserted itself as the country's main political actor. It had to overcome some obstacles since the party, which had just achieved their common goal, was prone to fragmentation.[16][page needed] There was a movement within the Istiqlal Party to unite Muslims and Jews called al-Wifaq (الوفاق), with prominent Jewish figures such as Armand Asoulin, David Azoulay, Marc Sabbagh, Joe Ohana, and Albert Aflalo.[17][18]

Leaders of the Istiqlal on 22 November 1955 in Tangier. From left to right: Abderrahim Bouabid, Ahmed Balafrej, Omar Benabdeljalil [fr], Abdelkrim Benjelloun Touimi [fr]

Between 1947 and 1956, the Istiqlal went through a period of significant expansion.[19] In 1944, party membership was estimated at around three thousand later expanding to ten thousand in 1947 and after 1952, one hundred thousand.[20] In the 50s, it eventually reached two hundred and fifty thousand members[21] and by the early months of Moroccan independence, it reached 1.6 million members.[22] After independence, al-Fassi was appointed secretary-general and later president for life of the Istiqlal.[23] By 1956, two factions emerged within the Istiqlal: a left wing and right wing.[24] In order to maintain its wavering dominance, the early Istiqlal-dominated government engaged in political repression which led to the anti-Istiqlal Rif Revolt. After the revolt, tensions began to grow in Moroccan society with much of the Moroccan population suffering from poverty and many opposing the continued presence of American military bases. This widened the gap between the two wings within the Istiqlal Party.[25]

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[24] 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.[26] They opposed the presence of American military bases, advocated for the holding of popular elections and introducing limits to the power of the monarchy.[25] The right wing, who made up the majority, were economically liberal and politically conservative.[26] 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.[25]

Allal al-Fassi in a press conference about the expulsion of Mehdi Ben Barka's party on 29 January 1959[27]

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.[28] When al-Fassi failed, Mohammed V lent his support to the left wing by appointing Moroccan Workers' Union leader Abdallah Ibrahim as prime minister.[25] The king did this to encourage the split within the party.[29] 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).[25]

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 Spanish 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,[30] and subsequently the party's leader, Abbas El Fassi, was named Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI on 19 September 2007.[30][31]

The party won 60 out of 325 seats in the parliamentary election held in November 2011, being the second party in the parliament.[32]

Istiqlal office of the Al-Fida Derb-Soltane district, Casablanca

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.[33][34]

Development since 2016

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In 2016, Istiqlal won 46 seats in parliamentary elections, a loss of 14 seats. The party joined the opposition.[35][36]

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.[37][38] 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.[39]

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.[40][41]

Electoral performance

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House of Representatives

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Election Votes % Seats Status
1963 1,000,506 30.0
41 / 144
 Opposition
1970 Boycotted
8 / 240
 Opposition
1977 1,090,960 21.62
51 / 264
 Opposition
1984 681,083 15.33
40 / 301
 Opposition
1993 760,082 12.2
52 / 333
 Opposition
1997 840,315 13.8
32 / 325
 Part of the government
2002 598,226 9.89
48 / 325
 Part of the government
2007 494,256 10.7
52 / 325
 Leading the government under Abbas El Fassi
2011 562,720 11.9
60 / 395
 Part of the government until October 2013
2016 620,041 10.68
46 / 395
 Opposition
2021
81 / 395
 Part of the government

References

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  1. ^ Alami, Aida; Casey, Nicholas (9 September 2021). "Islamists See Big Losses in Moroccan Parliamentary Elections". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b Hefner, Robert W.; Hutchinson, John; Mels, Sara; Timmerman, Christiane (23 October 2013). Religions in Movement: The Local and the Global in Contemporary Faith Traditions. Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-136-68100-4.
  3. ^ Daadaoui, Mohamed (May 2010). "Party Politics and Elections in Morocco" (PDF). Policy Brief (29). Middle East Institute. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  4. ^ Errazzouki, Samia (12 May 2013). "The Facade of Political Crises in Morocco". Jadaliyya. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  5. ^ [2][3][4]
  6. ^ "Members | International Democracy Union". 1 February 2018.
  7. ^ a b Lawrence 2013, pp. 166–213
  8. ^ Joffé, E. G. H. (1985). "The Moroccan Nationalist Movement: Istiqlal, the Sultan, and the Country*". The Journal of African History. 26 (4): 303. doi:10.1017/S0021853700028759. ISSN 1469-5138. S2CID 154810750.
  9. ^ "Morocco's Istiqlal party elects new leader". France 24. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  10. ^ Fenner 2023, p. 38
  11. ^ Miller 2013, p. xvi
  12. ^ Clayton, Anthony (6 December 2012). "Emergency in Morocco, 1950-56". In Holland, Robert (ed.). Emergencies and Disorder in the European Empires After 1945. Routledge. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-136-29725-0.
  13. ^ Stenner, David (2019). Globalizing Morocco : transnational activism and the post-colonial state. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 21. ISBN 9781503608115.
  14. ^ Stenner, David (2019). Globalizing Morocco : transnational activism and the post-colonial state. Stanford, California. p. 19. ISBN 9781503608115.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ Stenner, David (2019). Globalizing Morocco : transnational activism and the post-colonial state. Stanford, California. ISBN 9781503608115.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ Stenner, David (2019). Globalizing Morocco : transnational activism and the post-colonial state. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-0900-6.
  17. ^ Boum, Aomar (16 October 2013). Memories of Absence : How Muslims Remember Jews in Morocco. Stanford University Press. pp. 114, 118. ISBN 978-0-8047-8851-9. OCLC 1198929626.
  18. ^ Heckman, Alma Rachel (24 November 2020). The Sultan's Communists: Moroccan Jews and the Politics of Belonging. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-1414-7.
  19. ^ Bulutgil, H. Zeynep (2022). The Origins of Secular Institutions: Ideas, Timing, and Organization. Oxford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-19-759844-3.
  20. ^ Miller 2013, p. 148
  21. ^ Hinnebusch, Raymond (2 September 2008). "Political Parties and Trade Unions". In Choueiri, Youssef M. (ed.). A Companion to the History of the Middle East. John Wiley & Sons. p. 345. ISBN 978-1-4051-8379-6.
  22. ^ Lust-Okar, Ellen (10 January 2005). Structuring Conflict in the Arab World: Incumbents, Opponents, and Institutions. Cambridge University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-139-44273-2.
  23. ^ Jebari, Idriss (5 December 2017). "An Intellectual Between the Maghreb and the Mashreq: Mohammed Abed al-Jabri and the Location of Thought". In Eyadat, Zaid; Corrao, Francesca M.; Hashas, Mohammed (eds.). Islam, State, and Modernity: Mohammed Abed al-Jabri and the Future of the Arab World. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 83. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-59760-1_5. ISBN 978-1-137-59760-1.
  24. ^ a b Bulutgil, H. Zeynep (2022). The Origins of Secular Institutions: Ideas, Timing, and Organization. Oxford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-19-759844-3.
  25. ^ a b c d e Storm, Lise (29 October 2007). Democratization in Morocco: The Political Elite and Struggles for Power in the Post-Independence State. Routledge. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-1-134-06738-1.
  26. ^ a b Howe 2005, pp. 99–100
  27. ^ "A picture taken on January 29, 1959 in Rabat shows Moroccan founder..." Getty Images. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  28. ^ Howe 2005, pp. 99–100
  29. ^ Pennell 2000, p. 308
  30. ^ a b "Morocco's king names new PM", Xinhua, 20 September 2007.
  31. ^ "El Fassi named Moroccan prime minister"[permanent dead link], Associated Press (Jerusalem Post), 20 September 2007.
  32. ^ "Morocco". European Forum. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  33. ^ Staff Writer (23 September 2012). "Hamid Chabat Elected New Secretary General of the Istiqlal Party". Morocco World News. p. 1. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  34. ^ "HM the King congratulates Hamid Chabat on election secretary general of Istiqlal Party | MapNews". www.mapnews.ma. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  35. ^ Amraoui, Ahmed El. "Morocco's ruling Islamic party wins parliamentary polls". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  36. ^ "Moroccan Party Close To Global Muslim Brotherhood Wins Parliamentary Elections". The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  37. ^ "Istiqlal Party Picks Nizar Baraka as New Secretary General – The North Africa Post". Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  38. ^ Staff Writer (7 October 2017). "Nizar Baraka Unseats Hamid Chabat, Becomes New Istiqlal Leader". Morocco World News. p. 1. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  39. ^ "HM the King Congratulates Nizar Baraka Following his Election as Istiqlal Party's Secretary-General | MapNews". www.mapamazighe.ma. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  40. ^ "Morocco elections: Islamists suffer losses as liberal parties gain ground". The Guardian. 9 September 2021. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  41. ^ "Islamists suffer crushing defeat in Moroccan parliamentary elections". France 24. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2023.

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parti Istiqlal.