Authenticity and Modernity Party

The Authenticity and Modernity Party is a political party in Morocco. It was founded in 2008 by Fouad Ali El Himma, an advisor to the king Mohammed VI, and it has been perceived by its opponents and the press as being backed and directed by the monarchy. As such, it has been accused of having little ideology except for support of the monarchy, although some of its policies have been described as socially liberal. History Establishment The political party was founded in 2008. Its first constitutive congress took place on 20 February 2009. It was preceded by the Authenticity and Modernity parliamentary bloc, formed after the 2007 parliamentary election, and the think tank "Movement of All Democrats" (Mouvement de Tous les Démocrats, MTD), both created and led by El Himma. "The Movement of All Democrats" creation communiqué was signed by a number of influential Moroccan public figures including: Aziz Akhenouch, Mustapha Bakkoury, Ahmed Akhchichine, Rachid Talbi Alami, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah and three human rights activists who had served on Mohammed VI's Equity and Reconciliation Commission which investigated human rights abuses during Hassan II's reign. A number of political parties merged into PAM: Al Ahd, the National Democratic Party (PND), the Alliance of Liberties, the Environment and Development Party and the Civic Initiative for Development. The formation's main objective was to hit back at the rise of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). It has been characterised as reform-oriented and modernist, but lacks a clear political orientation. It positioned itself between the parties of the Istiqlal Party-led coalition and the oppositional PJD. Because of uncertainties about the organisation's ideology and political strategy, the PND and al-Ahd left it again a short time after they had joined.