Fatima Zahra El Mansouri becomes Morocco’s first female prime minister

Fatima Zahra El Mansouri has become Morocco’s first female prime minister. King Mohammed VI appointed her after her Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won the most seats in last week’s parliamentary election.

El Mansouri is also only the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden. PAM won 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, leaving it short of the 198 needed for an absolute majority.

Appointment after the election

The king chose between El Mansouri and Fouzi Lekjaa, head of Morocco’s football authority and a prominent politician from the same party. Under Morocco’s constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the party that comes first in the election.

PAM must now negotiate a coalition. It has fallen out with the National Rally of Independents, which led the outgoing government in which PAM was a junior partner. The Islamist Justice and Development Party won 54 seats, up from 13 previously, but its leader and former prime minister Abdelilah Benkirane said it would remain in opposition and reject a partnership with PAM.

El Mansouri’s political career

The 50-year-old politician trained as a lawyer. She studied at Mohammed V University in Rabat before continuing her education in France and the US, specialising in business and corporate law.

She entered politics after PAM was founded in 2008 and became Marrakesh’s first female mayor in 2009. She returned to the post after the 2021 election and also served for five years as minister responsible for national territory planning, urban planning, housing and city policy.

In February 2024, El Mansouri became the co-ordinator of PAM’s collective leadership. The party has operated without a single secretary general since then, making the choice of a prime-ministerial candidate less automatic than in previous elections.

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, but most power remains with the king. El Mansouri has rarely spoken publicly about women’s rights and gender inequality. Asked whether her participation in religious ceremonies with the king would require changes, she did not answer directly and instead called Mohammed VI the country’s biggest advocate for women.