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]
^Routledge Handbook on Political Parties in the Middle East and North Africa. Routledge. 2021. pp. 101–103. ISBN9781000293302. 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.
^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
^ abJames 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
^Marvine Howe (2005), Morocco: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges, Oxford University Press, p. 99
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