Socialist Union of Popular Forces

The Socialist Union of Popular Forces (Arabic: الاتحاد الاشتراكي للقوات الشعبية‎ Al-Ittihad Al-Ishtirakiy Lilqawat Al-Sha'abiyah; Berber languages: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵏⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵍⴰⵢⵜ ⵏⵉⵖⴰⵍⵍⵏ ⵉⴳⴷⵓⴷⴰⵏⵏ; French: Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires, USFP) is a social-democratic[1] political party in Morocco.

Socialist Union of Popular Forces الاتحاد الاشتراكي للقوات الشعبية Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵏⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵍⴰⵢⵜ ⵏⵉⵖⴰⵍⵍⵏ ⵉⴳⴷⵓⴷⴰⵏⵏ
First Secretary	Driss Lachgar
Founded	1975 (1975)
Split from	National Union of Popular Forces
Headquarters	Rabat, Morocco
Newspaper	Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki (Arabic) Libération (French)
Ideology	Social democracy[1] Democratic socialism[1]
Political position	Centre-left
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists (observer)
International affiliation	Socialist International Progressive Alliance
Colours	Purple, White
House of Representatives	20 / 395
Website
www.usfp.ma
Politics of Morocco Political parties Elections

History and profile

The USFP was formed as a breakaway from the National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP), a Socialist opposition party which had itself split from the Istiqlal Party in 1959.[2] The USFP was established in 1975.[3][4]

The party won the 1997 parliamentary election.[5] Then the party led the government of Morocco with a centre-left coalition.[5] During this period Abderrahmane Youssoufi, the leader of the party, was the Prime Minister of Morocco.[5]

In the parliamentary election 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".

In the next parliamentary election, 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.[6] The USFP was included in the government of Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, formed on 15 October 2007.[7]

The USFP is a full member of the Socialist International[8] and an observer of the Party of European Socialists.[9]

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.[10] The party placed fifth, with 39 seats, in the 2011 elections.[11]

Electoral performance

Year	Number of votes	Percentage of votes	Seats in the House of Representatives	Position in Parliament
1977	116,470	2.31	1 / 264	Opposition
1984	550,291	12.39	35 / 301	Opposition
1993	820,641	13.2	52 / 333	Opposition
1997	884,061	13.9	57 / 325	Leading government under Abderrahmane Youssoufi
2002		15.38	50 / 325	Part of the government
2007	408,945	8.9	38 / 325	Part of the government
2011	408,108	8.6	39 / 395	Opposition
2016	367,622	5.06	20 / 395	Opposition

References

1. El-Hussein A’boushi (2010), "The Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party in Morocco", Returning to Political Parties?, The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, pp. 131–173, retrieved 1 December 2011
2. Marvine Howe (2 June 2005). Morocco: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges. Oxford University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-19-534698-5. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
3. Marvine Howe (2 June 2005). Morocco: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges. Oxford University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-19-534698-5. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
4. "Moroccan Political Parties". Riad Reviews. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
5. Remy Leveau (December 1998). "A democratic transition in Morocco?". Le Monde diplomatique. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
6. "Moroccans favor conservative party instead of ushering in Islamic party", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 9 September 2007.
7. "Le roi nomme un nouveau gouvernement après des tractations difficiles", Agence France-Presse, 15 October 2007 (in French).
8. List of Socialist International parties in Africa Archived 28 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine Socialist International.
9. Party of European Socialists official website
10. "North Africa region daily news update". Aswat. 24 October 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
11. "Morocco". European Forum. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.

External links

• Official website