Morocco gets its first female prime minister

Morocco has made history by appointing its first female prime minister, Fatima El Mansouri.

King Mohammed VI appointed her after her party, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), won the most seats in last week’s parliamentary elections.

She is the first woman to lead Morocco and the second woman to head an Arab nation, following Najla Bouden, who was Tunisia’s prime minister from 2021 to 2023.

Ms El Mansouri called her new role “truly historic.”

“For the first time in our country’s history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government,” she said. “This is a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women.”

Morocco has a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system, but the king holds the most power. The king picks the head of government from the party with the majority in the House of Representatives.

The king chose her as prime minister over the football chief, Fouzi Lekjaa, who is also a top politician from PAM, according to the BBC.

El Mansouri is one of Morocco’s top female politicians.

The 50-year-old was the mayor of Marrakesh and served as a minister in the last coalition government. She was the minister for national territory planning, urban planning, housing, and city policy under former Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.

At her party’s victory conference, held before she was named prime minister, she praised 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.

In 2021, Ms El Mansouri pushed back against being called an “iron woman,” stating, “I am neither a woman of steel nor iron… I am a free activist.”

But she has not spoken much about women’s rights or gender equality in public.

Ms El Mansouri’s party, PAM, won the most seats, but they did not reach the 198 seats needed for a clear majority. They will need to form a coalition government.

Her first job will be to build this coalition.

This new governing coalition will decide how to allocate billions of dollars in investments ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will host along with Portugal and Spain.