Morocco Names Its First Woman Prime Minister: How It Happened and What's Next
King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as Morocco's prime minister, the first woman to hold the post. BBC
The appointment on Tuesday, Sept. 29, followed parliamentary elections on Sept. 23. El Mansouri's Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) finished first in that vote. Reuters
Under Morocco's constitution, the king appoints the head of government, the person who runs day-to-day governing, from the party that comes first in elections to the House of Representatives, the elected lower house. PAM won 97 seats in the 395-member parliament. It needs 198 seats for an absolute majority, enough votes to pass laws on its own. BBC
PAM is described as a liberal-centrist party, a middle-of-the-road label on economics and social issues. It competed as part of a ruling coalition, the group of parties already sharing power, that dominated the September election. The contest had low voter turnout, with many eligible voters not taking part. AFP
The king chose El Mansouri over Fouzi Lekjaa from the same party.
El Mansouri became the first woman to serve as mayor of Marrakesh in 2009. She still holds that office, alongside the territorial planning portfolio. She served as minister for national territory planning, urban planning, housing and city policy under former Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch. She became coordinator of PAM's leadership coalition in February 2024.
El Mansouri is only the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world, after Tunisia's Najla Bouden.
The broader context here is how executive authority is divided in Morocco. Voters decide which party finishes first, but the appointment itself is made by the king after the results. A first-place finish with 97 seats brings the right to lead talks on forming a government, not to govern alone. The palace therefore sits at the center of bargaining between parties and of selection inside PAM, including the preference for El Mansouri over Lekjaa.
Looking at what this means for the next phase, coalition talks come next. PAM is 101 seats short of a majority. It will need partners, whether from inside the incumbent coalition that dominated the Sept. 23 vote or from outside it. The shape of that bargain will decide portfolios, policy priorities, and how durable the parliament will be. Low turnout does not alter the constitutional procedure, but it frames the participation question any new cabinet will face.
In my view, specialists should watch three things closely. First, the composition of the government El Mansouri proposes and whether it keeps continuity with the Akhannouch cabinet in which she served. Second, how PAM manages its own leadership balance after the king's choice. Third, whether the precedent of a woman leading government in Rabat alters expectations elsewhere in the region, where Bouden remains the sole prior example. The appointment is decided. Governing has not yet begun.
