Morocco’s King Appoints El Mansouri First Female Prime Minister Following Election

King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri on Tuesday as Morocco’s first woman prime minister after her liberal-centrist party came out on top in ‌the September 23, 2026 parliamentary election, the royal palace said in a statement.

The king has officially tasked El Mansouri to negotiate a coalition and form the new government.

Her party, the centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), won 97 out of 395 seats in the parliamentary elections.

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

Under Morocco’s constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the political party that wins the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives.

Born on January 3, 1976, El Mansouri is a lawyer who was housing minister in the outgoing government and Marrakech mayor. She is expected to lead talks to form a coalition government and submit a list of cabinet members for the king’s approval.

Her nomination to a key leadership position is not unprecedented; it aligns with a long-standing royal policy aimed at encouraging women to assume high-level responsibilities.

Moroccan women have previously held significant positions—most notably Zoubida Naciri, the first female advisor to His Majesty the King.

Zineb El Adaoui heads the Court of Auditors, one of the Kingdom’s most important constitutional institutions.

Amina Benkhadra leads the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), demonstrating the presence of qualified women in strategic sectors.

Successive Moroccan governments have appointed prominent women to ministerial posts and high-level public service roles.

This trend reflects the Royal Family’s ongoing commitment to fostering women’s participation in public life and decision-making processes.

The criteria for nomination and advancement to positions of responsibility are competence, merit, and the ability to deliver results—not gender.

El Mansouri’s nomination is a natural continuation of an institutional process that has recently enabled a significant number of Moroccan women to attain influential leadership roles.