Morocco’s king appoints first woman prime minister
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first woman prime minister, making her the second woman in the Arab world to hold the position.
The royal palace announced the appointment Tuesday, tasking the 50-year-old El Mansouri with forming a new government.
“For the first time in our country’s history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government,” El Mansouri said in a televised address. “This is a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women.”
Her appointment came four days after the results of last week’s legislative elections were announced. El Mansouri’s Authenticity and Modernity Party, or PAM, won 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament.
The party fell short of the 198 seats needed for a majority and will need to form a coalition with other parties to govern.
PAM has said it is willing to work with other political parties, but some, including the Justice and Development Party and the Federation of Democratic Left, have said they will remain in opposition.
The new government will also face major economic and infrastructure decisions ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Portugal and Spain.
El Mansouri previously served as Morocco’s minister of national spatial planning, urban development, housing and urban policy. She has also served as mayor of Marrakesh, becoming the first woman to lead the city in 2009. She returned to the post after the 2021 elections.
She was born in Marrakesh in 1976 and studied law. She earned a postgraduate diploma from the University of Montpellier in France and studied Anglo-Saxon business law at New York University.
El Mansouri entered national government in October 2021 after serving in local politics and as a member of the House of Representatives.
She is the second woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world, after Najla Bouden, who was Tunisia’s prime minister from October 2021 to August 2023.
