Morocco has just rewritten a page of its political history , and this time, it is a woman taking the government’s top seat. King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first woman prime minister, six days after her Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) emerged as the biggest party in the September 23 parliamentary election.
The 50-year-old lawyer was formally tasked by the king on Tuesday with forming a new government, making her the first woman to serve as Morocco’s head of government and only the second woman to head a government in the Arab world, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.
El Mansouri is no newcomer to Moroccan politics. She has served as Minister of National Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy and has also been mayor of Marrakech. She is a senior figure in PAM, which won 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives in last week’s election.
Her appointment follows an election in which PAM emerged ahead of the National Rally of Independents, which secured 66 seats, and the Istiqlal Party, which won 65. However, PAM fell well short of the 198 seats required for a parliamentary majority, meaning El Mansouri will need coalition partners to form a government.
The election was also marked by low voter participation, with turnout at about 38 percent, according to reported official figures. The result comes as Morocco faces pressure over employment, public services and the economy, while preparing to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
El Mansouri now faces the task of assembling a governing coalition and leading the government through a period that includes major infrastructure investment linked to the World Cup as well as domestic economic and social pressures.
Her appointment also carries significance beyond Morocco, placing the North African kingdom alongside Tunisia as the only Arab countries to have had women lead their governments.
