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The United States and North Africa
the southern border regions and caused minor incidents until
French troops were withdrawn a year later. Late in 1957,
however, ex-leaders of the Liberation Army formed a new
political party, the Popular Movement, which stressed a vague
doctrine of "Islamic socialism," and has shown strength in rural
and Berber areas in which the Army had previously operated.
After the restoration of public order, which was completed
by the end of 1956, Moroccan political life blossomed. Since
independence there have been six governments, four of them
political cabinets and the last two formed and presided over
by the King. The
first government of Si Bekkai lasted until
October 1956, but was under constant attack by the Istiqlal,
which wanted all the cabinet posts instead of a mere majority.
In fact, the cabinet was a govering institution in name only at
this time because of the unlimited nature of royal power, and
the separate political activity which flourished in the palace
with all its ramifications, plus royal control of the Army and
the police. When the second, all-Istiqlal government was
formed, the King recained Si Bekkai, personally loyal to him,
as head of government and fomed a crown council to handle
certain matters that he did not want to go through the cabinet.
Thus, the Istiqlal did not ever have full power and it was,
moreover, beginning to show signs of internal strain. The
enthusiastic support it had received from a majority of the
people just after independence was giving way to disillusion-
ment as the economy slowed down and the standard of living
dipped. Also there was a basic cleavage between the old-guard
leadership which had come from and represented more con-
servative circles and a minority group headed by Mehdi ben
Barka, Abdallah Ibrahim, and Abderrahim Bouabid, which ac-
cused the party of having lost conect with popular reality
and which turned to the urban proletariat for support. The
quarrel was noticeable in 1957, when the tone of party publi-
cations controlled by each faction started to clash. After the
Istiqlal ministers had resigned and brought down the second
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