The Socialist Union of Popular Forces ( ar, الاتحاد الاشتراكي للقوات الشعبية, translit=Al-Ittihad Al-Ishtirakiy Lilqawat Al-Sha'abiyah; zgh, ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵏⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵍⴰⵢⵜ ⵏⵉⵖⴰⵍⵍⵏ ⵉⴳⴷⵓⴷⴰⵏⵏ; french: Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires, USFP) is a social-democratic political party in Morocco.

History and profile

The USFP was formed as a breakaway from the

National Union of Popular Forces The National Union of Popular Forces ( ar, الاتحاد الوطني للقوات الشعبية; , UNFP) was founded in 1959 in Morocco by Mehdi Ben Barka and his entourage, because they found that the Istiqlal Party was not radical enough. E ...

(UNFP), a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

opposition party which had itself split from the

Istiqlal Party The Istiqlal Party ( ar, حزب الإستقلال, translit=Ḥizb Al-Istiqlāl, lit=Independence Party; french: Parti Istiqlal; zgh, ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵍⵉⵙⵜⵉⵇⵍⴰⵍ) is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and ...

in 1959. The USFP was established in 1975. The party won the 1997 parliamentary election, then led the government of Morocco with a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

coalition. During this period

Abderrahmane Youssoufi Abderrahmane Youssoufi ( ; ar, عبد الرحمن اليوسفي; 8 March 1924 – 29 May 2020) was a Moroccan politician and human rights lawyer who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Morocco from 1998 to 2002, serving under kings Hassan II ...

, the leader of the party, was the Prime Minister of Morocco. In the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on 27 September 2002, the party won 50 out of 325 seats, making it the largest party in the Moroccan parliament. Following those elections it formed a government with the Istiqlal Party in a three-party coalition known as the "

Koutla The Koutla (; ) is a political coalition between three Moroccan parties: the centre-right Istiqlal Party (PI), the centre-left Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), and the left-wing Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS). The alliance was ini ...

". In the next

, held on 7 September 2007, the USFP won 38 out of 325 seats, losing 12 seats and becoming only the fifth largest party in parliament. The USFP was included in the government of Prime Minister

Abbas El Fassi Abbas El Fassi (; ar, عباس الفاسي; born 18 September 1940) was Moroccan politician and businessman, prime minister of Morocco from 19 September 2007 to 29 November 2011. El Fassi, a member of the Istiqlal Party, replaced independent D ...

, formed on 15 October 2007. The USFP is a full member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations ...

and an observer of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom. ...

. In the run-up to the November 2011 parliamentary elections, the USFP sought to present a united front with the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) and Democratic Forces Front (FFD) to reverse the loss of support for the Moroccan left in the preceding years. The party placed fifth, with 39 seats, in the 2011 elections.

Electoral performance

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Union of Popular Forces 1975 establishments in Morocco Full member parties of the Socialist International Parties related to the Party of European Socialists Political parties established in 1975 Political parties in Morocco Progressive Alliance Social democratic parties in Africa Socialist parties in Morocco