Morocco appoints first woman prime minister in its history

Dubai: Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Tuesday appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri to lead the country’s government, making her the first woman to hold the post in the kingdom’s history.

The Royal Palace said El Mansouri had been tasked with forming a new government following parliamentary elections on September 23. 

El Mansouri leads the Authenticity and Modernity Party, known by its French acronym PAM, which emerged as the largest party in the 395-seat House of Representatives.

Final results released by the Interior Ministry gave PAM 97 seats, ahead of the National Rally of Independents, or RNI, with 66, and the Istiqlal Party with 65. The Justice and Development Party won 54 seats. 

Under Article 47 of Morocco’s constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the political party that finishes first in elections to the House of Representatives. The members of the government are subsequently appointed by the king on the proposal of the head of government. 

With no party holding a majority, El Mansouri will have to assemble a governing coalition. Before the election, PAM had ruled out renewing its coalition with the RNI, but following the vote El Mansouri said the party would enter negotiations without predetermined exclusions. 

The election was marked by low participation. Final figures released by the Interior Ministry put turnout at 38.08 per cent, down from 50.86 per cent in 2021. The participation rate was the lowest since 2007, when 37 per cent of registered voters cast ballots. 

El Mansouri, born in Marrakech in 1976, is a lawyer by training. She studied private law at Mohammed V University before pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Montpellier in France and further studies in business law at New York University in the United States. 

She entered politics with PAM in its early years and was elected mayor of Marrakech in 2009, becoming the first woman to lead the city. She held the position until 2015 and returned to the mayoralty following the 2021 elections. She was also elected to parliament in 2011, 2016 and 2021. 

In October 2021, King Mohammed VI appointed El Mansouri minister for national territorial planning, urban planning, housing and city policy in the government of Aziz Akhannouch. In February 2024, she was chosen to coordinate PAM’s three-member collective leadership. 

Her appointment makes her Morocco’s first woman prime minister and the second woman to head a government in the Arab world, following Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.