[7] The formation of the Popular Current movement by Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, the third-place candidate during 2012 presidential elections, was announced in late September 2012 during a conference in Cairo's Abdeen Square.

[5] While the Popular Current's members were generally leftists, nationalists and revolutionary youth supportive of Sabahi's adoption of the "social justice" platform,[8] Sabahi called for the newly formed party to attract all Egyptians, including the "workers, farmers, craftsmen, fishermen, producers, middle class, Muslims, Copts, Sinai residents, Nubians, country folk, city dwellers, men, women, old and young.

Its members are largely drawn from contributors to Sabahi's presidential campaign and are primarily specialists in various fields relating to the movement's political platform.

"[8] The Popular Current's stances are virtually identical to Sabahi's: the achievement of social justice by instituting minimum and maximum wages in the public sector, the guarantee of personal and political freedoms, the establishment of a strong democratic system, the adoption of an independent foreign policy including the re-establishment of Egypt's historical role as a leading regional power and stringent opposition to interference in Egypt's domestic affairs by various world powers.

[9] On 4 February 2013, Mohamed el-Gendy, a member of the Popular Current allegedly tortured by the police following his arrest at Tahrir Square on 27 January, died in the Helal hospital due to his grave injuries.