Fatima Zahra El Mansouri has been named as Morocco’s first female prime minister just days after her Authenticity and Modernity Party won the most seats in the parliamentary elections.
El Mansouri is now only the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world, behind Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.
She was chosen to become prime minister by King Mohammed VI and will now need to negotiate with other parties to form a coalition government.
Moroccan law gives the king the power to appoint the prime minister; however, he must choose from the party that wins the most seats in an election. El Mansouri was chosen over Fouzi Lekjaa, another top politician from the same party.
El Mansouri, 50, has served as Mayor of Marrakesh twice and was a minister in the previous government, responsible for national planning, urban development, and housing policy. She trained as a lawyer before entering politics in 2008 and is now one of the country’s best-known female politicians.
El Mansouri’s Authenticity and Modernity Party secured 97 of the 395 seats in last week’s parliamentary elections. It has expressed a willingness to work with all parties to form a government. The Islamist Justice and Development Party and the Federation of Democratic Left have said they will remain in the opposition.
She became the co-ordinator of Authenticity and Modernity Party’s leadership coalition in 2024.
El Mansouri’s incoming government will oversee preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco is co-hosting with Portugal and Spain. She also faces economic challenges, including rising inflation.
Morocco’s ambassador to the United States, Youssef Amrani, said El Mansouri’s appointment as prime minister is a “historic first” and a “new horizon for Morocco”.
“Following the legislative elections, the appointment of Ms. Fatima-Zahra El Mansouri as Morocco’s first woman Head of Government marks a defining moment in the Kingdom’s journey towards women’s empowerment,” he wrote on X.