Democratic Way ( ar, النهج الديمقراطي, french: La Voie Democratique) is a legal

Hoxhaist Hoxhaism () is a variant of Anti-revisionism, anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism that developed in the late 1970s due to a split in the anti-revisionist movement, appearing after the Sino-Albanian split, ideological dispute between the Chinese ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

led by Mustapha Brahma and includes former members of the heavily repressed

Moroccan Communist Party The Moroccan Communist Party was a political party in Morocco. The party was established in November 1943 on the basis of the individual communist groups that had been active in Morocco since 1920.Great Soviet EncyclopediaМарокканская � ...

and the Marxist-Leninist Moroccan Movement. Democratic Way has boycotted all the elections held since its creation as they do not consider them to be free, deeming them to be "democratic smokescreen" for the Moroccan royal regime.

History and profile

Since 2004, when the party was legalized by the Moroccan State, its

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

i
Mustapha Brahma
who has succeeded Abdallah El Harif. since July 2012. The party has around 50 local sections in Morocco, as well as

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an branches for Moroccan

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Constituted in 1995 by members of the

clandestine Clandestine may refer to: * Secrecy, the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals * Clandestine operation, a secret intelligence or military activity Music and entertainme ...

organization " Ila Al Amame" (Forward), integrated also sympathizers of the Marxist–Leninist Moroccan movement (MLMM). Ila Al-Amam, created in 1970 by dissidents of the short-lived

Party of Liberation and Socialism The Party of Liberation and Socialism ( ar, حزب التحرر والاشتراكية; french: Parti de la libération et du socialisme, abbr. PLS) was a communist party in Morocco that existed from 1968 to 1974. Ali Yata was the general secreta ...

(former

), was the object of heavy repression by the Moroccan authorities; thousands of militants were imprisoned (the majority receiving ten-year prison sentences); others, such as

Abdellatif Zeroual Abdellatif Zeroual (1951 in Berrechid, Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, one of the founders of Ila Al Amame, died in torture centres or during the hunger strikes started in prison in order to take advantage of their rights (

Saida Menebhi Saida Menebhi (1952 in Marrakesh – 11 December 1977 in Casablanca) was a Moroccan poet, high school teacher, and activist with the Marxist revolutionary movement Ila al-Amam. In 1975, she, together with five other members of the movement, wa ...

for example); others disappeared without the truth on their fate being known. The first national congress of the Democratic Way was held on 16 to 18 July 2004, whereas that of the youth of the Democratic Way ("Chabibat Annahj Addimocrati") was held on 22 to 24 December 2006 at the

Mehdi Ben Barka use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

Hall of

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

. The second congress was held in July 2008, and the third national congress of the party is scheduled for 13, 14 and 15 July 2012 in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

. In 2004 the party formed an alliance with Loyalty to Democracy party, the Unified Socialist Left (GSU), the Party of the Socialist Vanguard (PADS), and the National Ittihad Congress (CNI). The main objective of the Democratic Way is the construction of

socialism 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 e ...

, with a democratic

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

that put an end to

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and the human exploitation. The party criticize the "illusions of alternance", referring to the presence of the

Socialist Union of Popular Forces The Socialist Union of Popular Forces ( ar, الاتحاد الاشتراكي للقوات الشعبية, translit=Al-Ittihad Al-Ishtirakiy Lilqawat Al-Sha'abiyah; zgh, ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵏⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵍⴰⵢⵜ ⵏⵉⵖⴰⵍⵍⵏ ⵉⴳ� ...

, until then the main

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

party, at the 1998 Moroccan government. Democratic Way had boycotted all the elections held since its creation (as other Moroccan parties had done in the past, for example 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 ...

between 1972 and 2005), as they do not consider then free, neither the Moroccan regime as democratic. The Democratic Way is present in a number of causes, movements and struggles: *Their presence in the trade unions, committees for defending public social services or supporting social struggles, the unemployed university graduates movement, etc. ... , fighting against "savage

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

" (

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

... ) *The implication of its militants on the Moroccan

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

movement, opposing the human rights violations of the regime. *The struggle for

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

, denouncing the actual "''façade'' democracy" through active campaigning for the boycott of elections, and reclaiming free and honest elections, with the base of a democratic constitution made by a Constitutive Assembly *The struggle against Moroccan dependence, cutting military (joint military exercises,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

reunions, cooperation against "terrorism" ... ), policy and economic (

Greater Middle East The Greater Middle East, is a political term, introduced in March 2004 in a paper by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as part of the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the Group of Eight summit of June 2004, denoting a v ...

Morocco–United States Free Trade Agreement The US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (or Morocco FTA) is a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Morocco. The agreement was signed on June 15, 2004, followed by U.S. President George W. Bush's signing of the USMFTA Implementation ...

, the proposed Morocco-UE Free Trade Agreement, Mediterranean Union ... ) relations with

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

. *The struggle for recognition of the

Amazigh language The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight,, ber, label=Tuareg Tifinagh, ⵜⵎⵣⵗⵜ, ) are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related languages spoken by Berber commun ...

and culture as official, and give the regions with Amazigh majorities the maximum

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

. *The support of the people's struggles, and above them the

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

, Iraqi and Lebanese people's, and the struggle "against the normalization with the

Zionist entity Zionist entity ( ar, الكيان الصهيوني, ), Zionist regime ( fa, رژیم صهیونیستی, ), and Zionist enemy are interchangeable pejorative terms used predominantly by Arabs and Muslims in reference to the Israel, State of Israe ...

". *The support to the

Sahrawi people The Sahrawi, or Saharawi people ( ar, صحراويون '; es, Saharaui), are an ethnic group and nation native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara, southern Morocco, much of Mauritania, and along the s ...

struggle for

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

, direct negotiations between Morocco and the

Polisario Front The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس� ...

and peaceful solutions. Since its first appearances, Democratic Way had supported the demonstrations of the

February 20 Movement February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

. In April 2011, Democratic Way rejected the official formula for reforming the Moroccan constitution, and called for the strengthening and consolidation of mobilization and to continue the struggle for a democratic regime. The militants of Democratic Way are present in the two principal

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s in Morocco (the Moroccan Union of Workers - UMT, and the Democratic Confederation of Work - CDT), as well as non-governmental organisations such as the

Moroccan Association for Human Rights The Moroccan Association for Human Rights ( ar, الجمعية المغربية لحقوق الإنسان, french: Association marocaine des droits humains, abbreviated AMDH) is one of the biggest Moroccan human rights non-governmental organizat ...

Attac The Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières et pour l'Action Citoyenne (''Association for the Taxation of financial Transactions and Citizen's Action'', ATTAC) is an activist organisation originally created to promote the e ...

-Morocco, the National Association of Unemployed Graduates in Morocco (ANDCM) and the women rights movement. The Democratic Way commemorate every 5 December, the "Day of the Martyrs", remembering members of Il Al-Amame killed by security forces and the ones who died in prison by

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

or in

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

s during the " Years of Lead" of

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People * Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

References

External links

* {{Moroccan political parties 1995 establishments in Morocco Anti-imperialist organizations Anti-revisionist organizations Communist parties in Morocco Hoxhaist parties Political parties established in 1995 Political parties in Morocco Republicanism in Morocco