King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Morocco’s first female prime minister. The 50-year-old lawyer and politician was tasked on Tuesday with forming a new government after her party won the most seats in last week’s parliamentary elections.
El Mansouri leads the centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), which took 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives on September 23. The result fell short of a majority, so she will need to negotiate a coalition with other parties before submitting a cabinet list for the king’s approval.
A trained lawyer who studied in Morocco, France, and the United States, El Mansouri has served as mayor of Marrakesh the first woman to hold that post ,and as urban planning and housing minister in the previous government.
In a statement after her appointment, she called the moment historic.“For the first time in our country’s history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government,” she said. “This is a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women.”
Her selection makes her only the second woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden (2021–2023).
El Mansouri now faces the task of addressing economic and social pressures, including youth unemployment, while overseeing the final stages of Morocco’s preparations to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Portugal and Spain.
