Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister, following her party’s victory in the September 23 parliamentary elections.
The 50-year-old El Mansouri, a member of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), was appointed on Tuesday, September 29, and has been tasked with forming a new government.
Her appointment makes her the second woman to serve as head of government in the Arab world, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.
PAM emerged as the largest party in Morocco’s 395-member House of Representatives, winning 97 seats. However, the party fell short of the 198 seats required for an outright majority and will need to form a coalition government.
El Mansouri is expected to begin coalition negotiations with other parties as she works to form the next administration. PAM has indicated it is open to working with other political parties, while the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which won 54 seats, has said it will remain in opposition.
Fatima El Mansouri is a lawyer and longtime political figure who has held positions in both local and national government.
She became mayor of Marrakesh in 2009, making her the first woman to hold the position. She later returned to lead the city after the 2021 elections.
She was also elected to Morocco’s House of Representatives and, in October 2021, was appointed Minister of National Spatial Planning, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Policy. She held the ministerial portfolio until her appointment as prime minister.
Born in Marrakesh in 1976, El Mansouri studied law at Mohammed V University in Rabat before pursuing further studies in France and the United States. She later built a legal career before entering politics.
Her experience in urban planning and housing also placed her at the centre of several national policy issues, including Morocco’s housing support programme and efforts to rehouse people affected by the 2023 Al Haouz earthquake.
El Mansouri’s immediate responsibility will be to form a government capable of securing parliamentary support.
Her appointment comes as Morocco prepares for several major economic and infrastructure commitments, including the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which the country will co-host with Portugal and Spain.
The new government will also face pressure to address employment, wages, living costs and other economic concerns that featured prominently in the recent election campaign.
El Mansouri’s appointment marks a change in Morocco’s political history. Four women served in the outgoing cabinet, but no woman had previously headed the government.
She now becomes the second woman in the Arab world to hold the position of prime minister and the first to do so in Morocco.
