RABAT : Morocco has appointed its first-ever woman head of government, with King Mohammed VI naming urban planning minister Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as the country’s new prime minister.
The 50-year-old lawyer has been tasked with forming a new government following last week’s parliamentary election. Her appointment was announced four days after the election results were released.
El Mansouri’s centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) secured the largest share of votes in the election, paving the way for her nomination under Morocco’s constitutional system.
However, PAM is not expected to hold an outright majority in parliament. El Mansouri is therefore likely to face the task of forming a coalition government in the coming days.
Her appointment also makes her only the second woman in the Arab world to serve as prime minister, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.
The new government will face several major challenges, including overseeing billions of dollars in investment linked to the 2030 FIFA World Cup, controlling inflation, raising incomes and creating jobs.
Under Morocco’s constitution, the king remains the country’s highest authority and appoints the prime minister. Since constitutional reforms following the 2011 Arab Spring protests, the king has been required to select the head of government from the party that wins the largest number of seats in parliamentary elections.
El Mansouri joined PAM in 2008. She previously served two terms as mayor of Marrakech and as a member of parliament before becoming one of the party’s leading figures in 2024.
She studied law at the University of Montpellier in France and is the daughter of Abderrahman El Mansouri, a prominent figure who was known as the “Pasha of Marrakech” and who also led the city’s bar association.
According to election figures cited in the report, PAM received around one million votes from a registered electorate of approximately 15.8 million voters, marking the party’s first electoral victory since its establishment.
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