Fatima-Zahra Mansouri appointed Morocco’s first female prime minister

King Mohammed VI of Morocco has appointed Fatima-Zahra Mansouri from Marrakech as prime minister, making the 50-year-old lawyer the first woman to hold the post in the kingdom’s history, amid significant political and social challenges.

Who is Fatima-Zahra Mansouri?

Mansouri is the first woman to lead the Moroccan government, following her appointment by King Mohammed VI yesterday after her Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won the most seats in the parliamentary elections. She now faces major challenges, including restoring young people’s trust in institutions and reducing social inequalities.

The 50-year-old Mansouri comes from a prominent family in Marrakech, the city where her political career began. She was elected mayor in 2009, becoming the first woman to hold that office. She returned to the role in 2021 for a six-year term.

Mansouri entered politics with the founding of the Authenticity and Modernity Party in 2008, and was elected to parliament two years later. In last Wednesday’s elections, she won another parliamentary seat as part of the 97 seats secured by her party, which topped the results but did not achieve an outright majority in the 395-seat House of Representatives.

Although well-known locally in Marrakech, one of Morocco’s top tourist destinations, Mansouri only emerged as a national leader of the Authenticity and Modernity Party in recent years.

In 2024, she became the party’s national coordinator as part of a three-member collective leadership. Even during the recent election campaign, Mansouri was not the sole face of the party, sharing the spotlight with Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Moroccan Football Federation and a newcomer to the party, whose name was also mentioned in the media as a potential candidate for prime minister.

In the outgoing government, Mansouri served as minister of national territory planning, urban planning, housing, and city policy, overseeing in particular a direct housing support program. However, her presence in national political debates has been more reserved compared to her active roles locally and within the party.

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