Morocco Names First Woman Premier

Rabat — Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on 29 September appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri head of government and tasked her with forming a new cabinet, the Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery said in an official statement published by the state portal Maroc.ma.

El Mansouri — also rendered Fatima Zahra Mansouri in Associated Press and other English wire copy — becomes the first woman to hold Morocco’s top government post. Wire coverage describes her as a 50-year-old attorney who was serving as urban planning minister and as mayor of Marrakech until the nomination. She is the second woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world after Najla Bouden in Tunisia, according to AP.

How the appointment works

Under Article 47 of Morocco’s Constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the party that wins the most seats in parliamentary elections. That rule was adopted after 2011 Arab Spring protests; before then, the king could name a prime minister without that party restriction. The royal statement says the king received El Mansouri at the Royal Palace in Rabat on Tuesday, 29 September 2026 (17 Rabi‘ al-Thani 1448 in the Islamic calendar used in the official notice), and appointed her in accordance with Article 47.

Parliamentary election results announced four days earlier showed her centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party, known as PAM, as the highest vote-getter. AP reported that about one million of 15.8 million registered voters backed PAM, the party’s first such win since it was created in 2008. Morocco’s electoral system rarely produces a single-party absolute majority, so El Mansouri must build a coalition to form a working government.

Who she is

El Mansouri joined PAM at its founding by Fouad Ali El Himma, a close adviser to the king. She studied law at the University of Montpellier in France, became one of the party’s top leaders in 2024, served twice as mayor of Marrakech, and has been a member of parliament. AP notes she is the daughter of Abderrahmane El Mansouri, a senior Marrakech official who also served as Morocco’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Unidentified hackers previously accused her of conflicts of interest over Marrakech land deals; she denied the claims, called them defamatory and took legal action, AP reported.

What happens next

The head of government must assemble coalition partners and present a cabinet. PAM has said it is willing to work with other parties; the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party and the left-wing Federation of Democratic Left have said they will stay in opposition, according to AP and Euronews. Wire coverage expects the new government to manage large investments tied to Morocco’s role in the 2030 FIFA World Cup and to face pressure on inflation, wages and jobs. The election was the first since a Ceuta migration crisis in July 2026 and deadly youth-led protests the prior year, AP noted — context for the political climate, not part of the royal appointment order itself.