The Istiqlal Party (Arabic: حزب الإستقلال, romanized: ḥizb al-istiqlāl, lit. 'Independence Party'; Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵍⵉⵙⵜⵉⵇⵍⴰⵍ, romanized: akabar n listiqlal; French: Parti Istiqlal) is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and monarchist party and a member of the Centrist Democrat International and International Democracy Union. Istiqlal headed a coalition government under Abbas El Fassi from 19 September 2007 to 29 November 2011. From 2013 to 2021, it was part of the opposition. Since 2021 it is part of a coalition government led by Aziz Akhannouch.

The party emerged in January 1944 during the anti-colonial struggle against French and Spanish imperial rule, making it the oldest active political party in Morocco.

The Istiqlal Party was founded by former members of the Moroccan Action Committee [fr; ar] in January 1944 or 1943. The Istiqlal held strongly Arab nationalist views and its nationalism was bourgeois and was opposed to traditional institutions. It functioned as the main political force struggling for the independence of Morocco. The initial goal stated in their manifesto was the independence from France “within the framework of a constitutional-democratic monarchy”. The leadership of Istiqlal was successful in overcoming “petty rivalries” between the different parties and anticolonial organizations and unifying the nationalist movement. This factor added to the campaign of Moroccan activists spread across the world and contributed to achieving international visibility and support for their cause.^{[citation needed]}

Establishing crucial contacts for advocating the Moroccan independence abroad happened in Tangier, since it was assigned as an international zone and thus under less influence of the French or Spanish. In Tangier Moroccan Nationalists established contact with Americans residing in Morocco, which among others provided US intelligence contacts. Outside of Morocco, important developments in advocating for Moroccan independence happened in Cairo (Egypt), within the United Nations, and in Paris (France). Advocating in France was primarily focussed on communicating with French society, disseminating and exchanging information, and mobilizing students.

However, once the country achieved independence in 1956, the party moved into opposition against the monarchy, which had asserted itself as the country's main political actor. It had to overcome some obstacles since the party, which had just achieved their common goal, was prone to fragmentation.^{[page needed]} There was a movement within the Istiqlal Party to unite Muslims and Jews called al-Wifaq (الوفاق), with prominent Jewish figures such as Armand Asoulin, David Azoulay, Marc Sabbagh, Joe Ohana, and Albert Aflalo.

Between 1947 and 1956, the Istiqlal went through a period of significant expansion. In 1944, party membership was estimated at around three thousand later expanding to ten thousand in 1947 and after 1952, one hundred thousand. In the 50s, it eventually reached two hundred and fifty thousand members and by the early months of Moroccan independence, it reached 1.6 million members. After independence, al-Fassi was appointed secretary-general and later president for life of the Istiqlal. By 1956, two factions emerged within the Istiqlal: a left wing and right wing. In order to maintain its wavering dominance, the early Istiqlal-dominated government engaged in political repression which led to the anti-Istiqlal Rif Revolt. After the revolt, tensions began to grow in Moroccan society with much of the Moroccan population suffering from poverty and many opposing the continued presence of American military bases. This widened the gap between the two wings within the Istiqlal Party.

The right wing of the party was made up of older leaders like Allal al-Fassi, Ahmed Belafrej and Mohamed Lyazidi whilst the left wing was made up of leaders of the MLA and younger leaders associated with the Moroccan Workers' Union. It came to include Mehdi Ben Barka and Abderrahim Bouabid. The split was not just a disputes between personalities but was also about ideological differences. The left wing were democratic socialists who were believers in social welfare and state control of vital sectors of the economy. They opposed the presence of American military bases, advocated for the holding of popular elections and introducing limits to the power of the monarchy. The right wing, who made up the majority, were economically liberal and politically conservative. They supported the continued presence of American bases as the government needed economic assistance from the US. They also did not want to hold popular elections out of fear of losing their power.

By spring of 1958, Mohammed V had given into most of the demands of the Istiqlal and appointed Ahmed Balafrej prime minister and foreign minister and Abderrahim Bouabid minister of finances and economy whilst keeping palace men in other key posts but in the summer of that same year, the left wing broke with the conservative leadership with the left wing denouncing the Balafrej government and calling a wave of strikes. Bouabid later resigned after the Rif Revolt. At first, Muhammad V went to Allal al-Fassi to work out a truce among the Istiqlal's factions. When al-Fassi failed, Mohammed V lent his support to the left wing by appointing Moroccan Workers' Union leader Abdallah Ibrahim as prime minister. The king did this to encourage the split within the party. This plan was successful as it led to al-Fassi retiring from the party and the radical Ben Barka being excluded from the government. This eventually led to the formation of a new party led by Ben Barka called the National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP).