Politics
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister, making her the third woman to serve as head of government in the Arab world.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister, making her the third woman to serve as head of government in the Arab world.
El Mansouri’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won the most seats in last week’s parliamentary elections, securing 97 seats in the 395-member House of Representatives. The National Rally of Independents (RNI), which came second, won 66 seats, meaning PAM does not have an outright majority and will need to form a coalition with other parties. King Mohammed VI has tasked the 50-year-old El Mansouri with forming a new government. She was previously Morocco’s minister responsible for national planning, urban planning, housing and urban policy and is also the mayor of Marrakesh.
El Mansouri was first elected mayor of Marrakesh in 2009, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the city. She returned to the mayoral post in 2021. In 2024, she became coordinator of the collective leadership of PAM. Before appointing El Mansouri, King Mohammed VI had also considered Fouzi Lekjaa, a prominent politician and president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. The king ultimately selected El Mansouri to lead the government. Morocco is a constitutional monarchy in which the king retains significant powers. Under the constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the party that wins the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives. Following her party’s election victory, El Mansouri praised the king and described him as the country’s “biggest supporter of women.”
Fatima Zahra El Mansouri is a lawyer by profession. She studied private law at Mohammed V University in Rabat before continuing her education in France and the United States, specializing in business and corporate law. She entered politics after the establishment of PAM in 2008 and became the first woman to serve as mayor of Marrakesh in 2009. Over the past five years, she served in the government of former Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch as minister responsible for national planning, urban planning, housing and urban policy. In February 2024, she became coordinator of PAM’s collective leadership. El Mansouri has rejected attempts to portray her as an “Iron Lady.” In a 2021 interview with the party’s magazine, she said: “I am neither a woman of steel nor a woman of iron. I am an independent activist.” Throughout her political career, El Mansouri has spoken relatively little publicly about women’s rights and gender inequality, despite ongoing debates in Morocco over issues such as whether polygamy should be prohibited and whether men and women should have equal inheritance rights.
