King Mohammed VI of Morocco appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as prime minister on 29 September, making her the first woman to hold the post in the country’s history, according to Al Jazeera and other outlets covering the announcement.
An Election Mandate
El Mansouri, the 50-year-old mayor of Marrakesh and a former minister of habitat, leads the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), which won 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives in legislative elections held the previous week, short of the 198 needed for an outright majority. She must now negotiate a coalition, with the outgoing government’s partner, the National Rally of Independents, and the conservative Istiqlal party among the largest blocs in parliament, according to reported results.
A Historic First
“For the first time in our country’s history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government,” El Mansouri said following her appointment, calling it “a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women.” She is only the second woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden held the post from 2021 to 2023. El Mansouri made history once before, in 2009, when she became Marrakesh’s first female mayor. Her immediate priorities are reported to include forming a governing coalition and overseeing preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco is due to co-host with Portugal and Spain. PAM, founded in 2008 by an adviser to the king, has positioned itself as a liberal-centrist counterweight to Islamist parties, campaigning on social modernisation alongside continuity with the monarchy’s broader policy direction.
Why It Matters
The appointment of a woman to lead the government of a constitutional monarchy where the king retains substantial executive authority marks a symbolic shift in a region where women remain underrepresented in top political office, and will be watched for whether it translates into broader gains for women in Moroccan public life.
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