First female prime minister named in Morocco after winning elections
Her appointment by the king makes her only the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world.
Morocco names first female prime minister after election win
A lawyer by training, 50-year-old Fatima Zahra El Mansouri has served as mayor of Marrakesh for several years
Fatima Zahra El Mansouri has been appointed Morocco’s first female prime minister after her centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (Pam) won the most seats in last week’s parliamentary elections.
Her appointment makes her only the second woman to head a government in the Arab world, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.
She was chosen by King Mohammed VI, who selected her as prime minister instead of the country’s football chief Fouzi Lekjaa, a senior politician from the same party. El Mansouri, 50, has been mayor of Marrakesh for years and also served as a minister in the previous coalition government.
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, but most power remains with the king.
At a victory press conference, before her appointment as prime minister, El Mansouri was asked whether the state would need to make adjustments to accommodate her in Muslim religious ceremonies attended by the king, including Friday and Eid prayers, where men and women pray in separate sections.
She did not answer the question directly, instead describing the king as "the biggest advocate for women" in the country.
"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.
El Mansouri is one of Morocco’s most prominent female politicians.
A lawyer by training, she studied at Mohammed V University in the capital, Rabat, before continuing her studies in France and the US, specialising in business and corporate law.
She entered politics after Pam was created in 2008 and became the first woman to serve as mayor of Marrakesh in 2009. She returned to the role after the 2021 elections.
Over the past five years, she served as minister for national territory planning, urban planning, housing and city policy under former Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.
In February 2024, she became the co-ordinator of Pam’s leadership coalition.
El Mansouri has rejected being described as an "iron woman", telling Pam’s magazine in 2021: "I am neither a woman of steel nor iron... I am a free activist."
Throughout her political career, El Mansouri has rarely spoken publicly about women’s rights or gender inequality, despite continuing debates in Morocco over issues such as whether polygamy should be banned and whether men and women should have equal inheritance rights.
As prime minister, El Mansouri (R) now has to negotiate a coalition with other parties to govern
Under Morocco’s constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the party that finishes first in elections to the House of Representatives.
Pam has been led by a collective leadership since February 2024, rather than a single secretary general.
After the results were announced last week, El Mansouri said it was ultimately the king’s decision to choose between her and Lekjaa.
In the past, the appointment was largely a formality, since most Moroccan parties were led by a single secretary general, making it obvious who would be nominated to head the government.
With 97 seats, Pam does not hold a majority and will need to build a coalition to reach the 198 seats needed for an absolute majority in the 395-member parliament.
It is unclear which party it will work with, as it has fallen out with the National Rally of Independents (RNI), which led the outgoing government in which Pam was a junior partner.
The Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) rebounded to 54 seats, up from only 13 in the previous election, helped by the return of party leader Abdelilah Benkirane, a former prime minister.
After the vote, Benkirane said the party would remain in opposition, rejecting a partnership with Pam.