Morocco has its first woman prime minister. King Mohammed VI on Tuesday appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri to lead the government, six days after her Authenticity and Modernity Party, known as PAM, finished first in the September 23 parliamentary election, the royal palace said. The 50-year-old lawyer now has to turn an election win into a working coalition.
How the appointment works
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, and the king keeps sweeping powers over foreign policy, defence and other key portfolios. Under the constitution, he names the head of government from whichever party wins the most seats in the House of Representatives. That put El Mansouri in line for the job once PAM came out on top, and the palace confirmed it four days after the results were announced. Being Morocco’s first woman prime minister she has a lot on her plate along with a legacy to uphold.
Who she is
El Mansouri served in the outgoing government as the minister responsible for urban planning and housing, and she has been mayor of Marrakech, first from 2009 to 2015 and again since 2021. She has led PAM since 2023. The party was created in 2008 by an adviser to the king and has positioned itself as a counterweight to the Islamist Justice and Development Party, or PJD, arguing for social modernisation.
The PJD, which led governments for a decade until 2021, won 54 seats, and its leader, former prime minister Abdelilah Benkirane, said the party will stay in opposition.
The appointment is a milestone in a country where women have held senior institutional roles but never the top job in government. In recent years the king has named a female adviser, and women have sat in cabinet, including Nadia Fettah, who became the first woman to serve as finance minister in 2021.
What comes next
El Mansouri will now lead talks with other parties to form a coalition, then submit a list of cabinet members for the king’s approval. On Thursday she signalled she is open to working with any partner, saying simply that “we have turned the page.”
The incoming government inherits a heavy calendar. It will oversee the final stretch of a $20 billion push to get the country ready for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Portugal and Spain. Reports on her priorities point to inflation, wages and job creation as the economic pressure points.
For now, the shape of the next cabinet is the open question. Moroccan governments are built through coalitions, so the bargaining over ministries will shape how much room the new prime minister has to act. The king still holds the last word on foreign policy and defence, so her remit will be felt mostly at home.
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