Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Tuesday appointed Marrakesh mayor Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first woman prime minister, according to the royal cabinet, after her party emerged as the largest force in last week’s parliamentary elections.
El Mansouri’s centre-right Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, 31 more than the next-largest party. The election, however, recorded the lowest voter turnout in two decades.
The royal cabinet said the king had tasked the 50-year-old former housing minister with “forming the new government”.
Speaking after her appointment, El Mansouri described it as “truly historic”.
“For the first time in our country’s history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government,” she said in a televised address. “This is a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women.”
Without an outright majority, the PAM will need to form a coalition with other parties to govern. Under Morocco’s political system, however, the monarch retains broad powers over major policy areas.
“For the new premier, the work starts today,” El Mansouri said.
“We will first initiate internal consultations within our party before holding discussions with all political groups.”
El Mansouri joined the PAM in 2008, the year it was founded by Fouad Ali El Himma, a former minister and current royal adviser, as a political counterweight to Morocco’s Islamist movement.
She became the first woman to serve as mayor of Marrakesh in 2009. She lost the position six years later before returning to office in 2021.
‘Restore hope’
El Mansouri’s government will face a number of economic and social challenges, including unemployment, rising living costs and persistent inequalities that disproportionately affect young people.
The parliamentary election came weeks after tens of thousands of mainly young Moroccans attempted to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, an episode that highlighted socioeconomic frustrations among the country’s youth.
It also followed a year of Gen-Z-led protests calling for improvements to healthcare and education.
“We are fully aware that this period will be significant and marked by high expectations from Moroccans, particularly young people,” El Mansouri said.
“That is why we will have a programme offering concrete and realistic solutions to citizens’ concerns.”
The PAM has pledged average annual economic growth of 5 percent, inflation of 2 percent and the creation of at least one million jobs over its five-year term.
The National Rally of Independents (RNI), which leads the outgoing governing coalition, finished second with 66 seats, while the right-wing Istiqlal Party came third with 65.
The Islamist opposition Justice and Development Party (PJD) won 54 seats, a significant increase from the 13 seats it secured in 2021. The party campaigned in part on a platform focused on tackling corruption.
PJD leader and former prime minister Abdelilah Benkirane described the result as a “victory” but ruled out joining a coalition led by the PAM.
Benkirane accused the election of being “tainted by fraud” but did not provide details to support the allegation.
AFP
