The Popular Movement (Arabic: الحركة الشعبية Al-Haraket Al-Sha'ebiya French: Mouvement populaire) is a conservative liberal party in Morocco established in 1957 by the Berber Caid Mahjoubi Aherdane with help from Dr. Abdelkrim al-Khatib who founded later a splinter party (Mouvement populaire démocratique et constitutionnel) that became the Justice and Development Party.
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, Alharaka alwatania ashaabia) and the Democratic Union (Union démocratique).
The party is a full member of Liberal International, which it joined at the latter's Dakar Congress in 2003.
In the parliamentary election held on 27 September 2002, the party won 27 out of 325 seats. It improved its standing in the parliamentary election held on 7 September 2007, winning 41 out of 325 seats.
Famous quotes containing the words popular and/or movement:
“You are, I am sure, aware that genuine popular support in the United States is required to carry out any Government policy, foreign or domestic. The American people make up their own minds and no governmental action can change it.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“No great movement designed to change the world can bear to be laughed at or belittled. Mockery is a rust that corrodes all it touches.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)