Morocco Makes History With First Woman Named Prime Minister
Morocco has appointed Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as its first female prime minister after her Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won the largest number of seats in the country’s latest parliamentary election.
The 50-year-old politician was chosen by King Mohammed VI ahead of Fouzi Lekjaa, the country’s football chief and a senior figure within PAM.
Her appointment makes her the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world, following Tunisia’s Najla Bouden, who served as the country’s prime minister.
El Mansouri is one of Morocco’s most prominent female politicians. She previously served as mayor of Marrakesh and held a ministerial position in the outgoing government.
PAM secured 97 of the 395 seats in Morocco’s House of Representatives, falling well short of the 198 seats required for an outright majority.
The party will therefore need to negotiate with other political groups to form a governing coalition.
The process could be difficult because PAM has had political differences with the National Rally of Independents (RNI), which led the outgoing coalition government and previously worked with PAM.
Morocco’s constitution provides that the king appoints the head of government from the party that wins the largest number of seats in parliamentary elections.
However, PAM’s collective leadership structure meant there was no single party leader automatically positioned to take the post.
The party has operated under collective leadership since February 2024, leaving El Mansouri and Lekjaa as the two prominent contenders for the position.
Before her appointment was announced, El Mansouri acknowledged that the final decision rested with the king.
Questions also arose over how her role as a woman would fit into certain religious ceremonies attended by the king, including Friday and Eid prayers, where men and women worship in separate sections.
El Mansouri did not directly address the issue when asked about it at a victory press conference. Instead, she praised King Mohammed VI as “the biggest advocate for women” in Morocco.
“His Majesty is the holder of wisdom… If I am entrusted with the responsibility of head of government, it will be a great honour,” she said.
Born into a prominent Moroccan political family, El Mansouri trained as a lawyer at Mohammed V University in Rabat before continuing her studies in France and the United States, where she specialised in business and corporate law.
She entered politics after PAM was founded in 2008 and made history in 2009 when she became the first woman elected mayor of Marrakesh. She returned to the position after the 2021 elections.
From 2021 to 2026, El Mansouri served as minister responsible for national territory planning, urban planning, housing and city policy under former Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.
She became coordinator of PAM’s collective leadership structure in February 2024.
El Mansouri has previously rejected descriptions portraying her as an “iron woman”. In a 2021 interview published by PAM’s magazine, she said: “I am neither a woman of steel nor iron… I am a free activist.”
Her emergence comes alongside a strong recovery by Morocco’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), which increased its representation from 13 seats in the previous election to 54.
The party’s improved showing followed the return of its leader, Abdelilah Benkirane, a former prime minister.
Benkirane has said the PJD will remain in opposition and ruled out joining a governing partnership with PAM.
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