Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister, following her centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) securing the highest number of seats in last week’s parliamentary elections.
The appointment, announced on September 29, 2026, marks a significant moment in Morocco’s political history. El Mansouri, 50, is a prominent politician who has served as mayor of Marrakesh and as a minister in the previous government.
Her appointment makes her the second woman in the Arab world to lead a government, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.
Under Morocco’s constitutional system, the king appoints the head of government from the party that comes first in elections to the House of Representatives. PAM won 97 of the 395 parliamentary seats, meaning El Mansouri will need to form a coalition to secure the 198 seats required for an absolute majority.
The new prime minister is expected to face challenges including forming a governing coalition and addressing key economic and social issues.
A lawyer by training, El Mansouri studied at Mohammed V University in Rabat before pursuing further studies in France and the United States, specialising in business and corporate law. She entered politics after PAM was founded in 2008 and became the first woman to serve as mayor of Marrakesh in 2009. She returned to the position following the 2021 elections.
Between 2021 and 2024, she served as minister for national territory planning, urban planning, housing and city policy. In February 2024, she became a coordinator of PAM’s collective leadership.
