King Mohammed VI appoints Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Morocco’s first woman prime minister

Marrakech, Morocco. King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Morocco’s first woman prime minister on Tuesday after her liberal-centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won the most seats in the September 23 parliamentary election. The royal palace said the king had asked her to form a government.

Coalition talks

El Mansouri, a lawyer who served as housing minister in the outgoing government and is mayor of Marrakech, will lead coalition talks and submit a list of cabinet members for the king’s approval.

PAM won 97 seats. Its partners in the outgoing coalition, the liberal-centrist National Rally of Independents (RNI) and the conservative nationalist Istiqlal, won 66 and 65 seats respectively.

PAM was the second-largest party in the outgoing coalition. Its rise to first place was bolstered by the recruitment of Fouzi Lekjaa, Morocco’s football federation chief and a two-time government budget manager, who joined weeks before the election.

Government priorities

PAM was created in 2008 by an adviser to the king. It has positioned itself as a counterweight to the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), advocating social modernisation and secular-leaning views.

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy in which the king retains sweeping powers over foreign policy, defence and other key portfolios. The constitution requires him to appoint the head of government from the party that wins the most seats in the House of Representatives.

The incoming government will oversee the final stages of a $20-billion preparation programme for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Portugal and Spain. It will also implement economic policies aimed at addressing widespread youth discontent, highlighted by a mass rush to the border of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July and deadly protests led by Gen Z last year.