CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Tuesday named Urban Planning Minister Fatima Zahra Mansouri as the country’s prime minister, making the 50-year-old lawyer the first woman to hold the post in Morocco. the Muslim kingdom.
Mansouri, who until her appointment was also mayor of Marrakech, was tasked with forming a new government, the Royal Palace said in a statement. The announcement came four days after the results of parliamentary elections were announced, with Mansouri’s centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), the the one who obtained the most votes.
Mansouri, the second woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden, is expected to assemble a coalition in the coming days to form a government. Morocco’s electoral system makes it difficult for a single party to obtain an absolute majority.
His government is expected to make billions of dollars in investments linked to 2030 FIFA World Cupwhile seeking to keep its promises to fight inflation, increase wages and create jobs.
The Moroccan Constitution gives the king, who is the highest authority in the country, the power to appoint the prime minister, but he must choose from the party that wins the most seats in legislative elections. It was a change successfully pushed for by Arab Spring protesters in 2011. Before that, the king could appoint the prime minister without any such restrictions.
Mansouri joined the PAM when it was created in 2008 by Fouad Ali El Himma, a childhood friend and close advisor to the king. A law graduate from the University of Montpellier in France, Mansouri became one of the party’s main leaders in 2024. She was mayor of Marrakech twice and a member of parliament.
Mansouri is the daughter of the “pacha of Marrakech” Abderrahmane El Mansouri, a senior local official who was also Morocco’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. He headed the Marrakech bar and was a landowner.
Mansouri was accused of conflict of interest after a group of unidentified hackers claimed she had used her position for personal gain regarding land deals in Marrakech. Mansouri denied the allegations, called them defamatory and filed a lawsuit.
One million of the 15.8 million registered voters in last week’s elections voted for the Authenticity and Modernity Party, marking its first victory since its creation. These elections were the first since the Ceuta migration crisis last July and the deadly protests led by young people last year.
After the royal appointment, attention now shifts to the coalition that will form the next government. The PAM has expressed willingness to work with all parties, but some, notably the moderate Islamist Justice and Development party and the left-wing Federation of the Democratic Left, have announced they will remain in opposition.
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