On Tuesday, King Mohammed VI of Morocco appointed Fatima Zahra Mansouri, the Urban Planning Minister, as the country’s new prime minister. This landmark decision makes Mansouri the first woman to hold this position in the Muslim kingdom. At 50, she previously served as mayor of Marrakech and has been entrusted with forming a new government, the Royal Palace announced.
This announcement follows the recent parliamentary elections, in which Mansouri’s centrist party, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), emerged as the leading vote-getter. With this appointment, Mansouri becomes the second woman in the Arab world to serve as prime minister, following Tunisia’s Najla Bouden. She is expected to form a coalition in the coming days, as Morocco’s electoral law often makes it difficult for a single party to win an absolute majority.
The new government is expected to manage significant investments, amounting to billions of dollars, tied to preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Additionally, it aims to address critical issues such as inflation, wage increases, and job creation.
The Moroccan Constitution requires the king to appoint the prime minister from the party that wins the most seats in parliamentary elections, a change implemented after the Arab Spring protests in 2011. This shift marked a departure from the previous practice, where the king could appoint the prime minister without such constraints.
Mansouri was a founding member of PAM in 2008, which Fouad Ali El Himma, a close adviser to the king, established. She holds a law degree from the University of Montpellier in France and became one of the party’s principal leaders in 2024. Throughout her career, Mansouri has been elected mayor of Marrakech twice and has served as a member of parliament.
She is the daughter of Abderrahmane El Mansouri, a senior local official known as the “pasha of Marrakech,” who also served as Morocco’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and led the local bar association.
Mansouri has encountered accusations of conflict of interest, as a group of unidentified hackers alleged that she may have misused her position for personal gain concerning land transactions in Marrakech. In response, she has firmly denied the allegations, calling them defamatory, and has initiated legal proceedings. In the recent election, one million out of 15.8 million registered voters supported the Authenticity and Modernity Party, marking its first electoral success since its establishment.
This election represented a significant event, being the first since the Ceuta migration crisis in July and the youth-led protests of the previous year. Following the royal nomination, attention now turns to the coalition that will form the next government. PAM has expressed willingness to cooperate with all political parties; however, some, including the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party and the leftist Federation of Democratic Left, have said they intend to remain in opposition.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
