Istiqlal Party

(Party of Independence), a political party in Morocco, organized in 1943. It reflects the interests of the Moroccan bourgeoisie, the bourgeois intelligentsia, and the big landowners.

The party took an active part in the struggle for the independence of Morocco. From 1956 to 1959 and from 1960 to January 1963 it was the ruling majority party. After 1963 it was in opposition to the government. In 1959 a left-wing group (National Union of Popular Forces) split from the Istiqlal. In July 1970 the Istiqlal party and the National Union of Popular Forces created the National Front, advancing a program of democratic transformations.

Chairman of the party is Muhammad Allal al-Fasi. Its publications are the newspapers Al-Alam, in Arabic, published since 1946, and L’Opinion, in French, since 1965.