King Mohammed VI Appoints Fatima Ezzahra al-Mansouri as Morocco's First Woman Prime Minister Following Election Victory

King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra al-Mansouri on Tuesday as Morocco’s first woman prime minister after her liberal-centrist party secured victory in the September 23 parliamentary election, according to the royal palace. The king instructed Mansouri to form a new government.

Mansouri’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), established in 2008 by an adviser to the king, has positioned itself as a counterweight to the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) by promoting social modernisation and secular-leaning views. Morocco operates as a constitutional monarchy where the king retains extensive authority over foreign policy, defence, and other vital portfolios. Under the constitution, the monarch appoints the head of government from the political party that wins the highest number of seats in the House of Representatives.

PAM advanced from being the second-largest member in the outgoing coalition to capture the top spot, aided by the recruitment of Fouzi Lekjaa, Morocco’s football federation chief and two-time government budget manager, who joined weeks prior to the vote. Mansouri, a lawyer, former housing minister in the outgoing government, and mayor of Marrakech, will spearhead negotiations to assemble a coalition government and present a cabinet list for royal approval.

The incoming administration will manage the final preparations for a $20-billion initiative to ready the nation for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host alongside Portugal and Spain. It will also execute economic strategies designed to tackle widespread youth discontent, highlighted by a mass border rush on the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July and deadly Gen-Z-led demonstrations last year.

PAM secured 97 seats, followed by its outgoing coalition partners, the liberal-centrist National Rally of Independents (RNI) with 66 seats, and the conservative nationalist Istiqlal with 65. Although PAM previously ruled out remaining in a coalition with the RNI due to disputes over policy shortcomings such as rising food prices, Mansouri stated on Thursday that she maintains no "red lines" for negotiations. Abdelilah Benkirane, former prime minister and leader of the PJD—which won 54 seats—announced that his party would remain in the opposition, while three leftist parties claimed smaller shares of seats.

Voter turnout dropped to approximately 38 percent from roughly 50 percent in the elections five years prior, when the moderate Islamist PJD suffered a major defeat after a decade in power.