RABAT, Sept 30 — King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Morocco’s first woman prime minister yesterday after her liberal-centrist party came out on top in the September 23 parliamentary election, the royal palace said.
The king asked El Mansouri to form a new government, the palace said in a statement.
El Mansouri’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) was created in 2008 by an adviser to the king and has since positioned itself as a counterweight to the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) by advocating social modernisation and secular-leaning views.
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy where the king retains sweeping powers over foreign policy, defence and other key portfolios.
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.
PAM, which was the second-largest member of the outgoing coalition, moved into the top spot, bolstered by the recruitment of Fouzi Lekjaa, Morocco’s football federation chief and two-time government budget manager, who joined weeks before the vote.
El Mansouri, a lawyer who served as housing minister in the outgoing government and as Marrakech mayor, will lead talks to form a coalition government and submit a list of cabinet members for the king’s approval. Reuters
No red lines
The incoming government will oversee the final stages of a US$20 billion (RM81.7 billion) push to prepare for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Portugal and Spain.
It will also implement economic policies aimed at addressing widespread youth discontent, an issue highlighted by a mass border rush on the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July and deadly Gen-Z-led protests last year.
PAM won 97 seats, followed by its partners in the outgoing government, the liberal-centrist National Rally of Independents (RNI) with 66 seats and the conservative nationalist Istiqlal with 65. Reuters
During the campaign, PAM had ruled out remaining in a coalition with the RNI, with the two parties trading blame over policy shortcomings, including a failure to halt rising food prices.
However, El Mansouri said on Thursday that she would have no “red lines” when it came to negotiations.
“We have turned the page,” she said.
Abdelilah Benkirane, former prime minister and leader of the PJD, which won 54 seats, said the party would remain in opposition.
Three leftist parties won smaller shares of the seats.
Turnout, closely watched as an indicator of trust in elected institutions, fell to about 38 per cent from around 50 per cent in the previous elections five years ago, when the moderate Islamist PJD suffered a heavy defeat after a decade in power.
In recent years, King Mohammed VI has appointed a female adviser, while women have held other senior institutional positions in Morocco. The outgoing government had four women ministers.
