Keypoints:
- El Mansouri becomes Morocco’s first woman government chief
- PAM won 97 seats but lacks a majority
- Coalition talks will shape the next government
MOROCCO has its first woman head of government after King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri to the post, placing one of the country’s most prominent politicians at the centre of coalition talks following last week’s parliamentary election.
El Mansouri’s appointment is historic, but she has little time to dwell on it. Her Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won more seats than any other party but fell well short of a parliamentary majority, making the search for coalition partners her first major test.
King turns to election winner
The Royal Household said King Mohammed VI appointed El Mansouri under Article 47 of the constitution and asked her to form a new government.
Article 47 provides for the monarch to choose the Head of Government from the party that comes first in elections to the House of Representatives.
That party is PAM.
Final figures released by the Interior Ministry show it winning 97 seats in the 395-member chamber. The National Rally of Independents (RNI) finished second with 66 seats, followed closely by the Istiqlal Party with 65.
The Justice and Development Party (PJD) secured 54 seats, while the Popular Movement won 29 and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces took 26.
With 198 seats needed for a majority, PAM is 101 short.
El Mansouri therefore needs partners.
Reuters reported that she has said there would be ‘no red lines’ in coalition discussions, suggesting PAM is prepared to cast its net widely as it searches for enough support to form a government.
From Marrakesh to the premiership
El Mansouri is hardly an unfamiliar face in Moroccan public life.
A lawyer by training, she has served as mayor of Marrakesh and held the housing and urban development portfolio in government. She is also a coordinator of PAM’s collective leadership.
Her move into the country’s top government post nevertheless changes something fundamental. Morocco has had women in senior cabinet roles before, but never a woman heading the government.
Internationally, the position is commonly described as prime minister. Morocco’s constitution formally uses the title Head of Government.
For El Mansouri, the novelty of the appointment is likely to fade quickly as attention turns to the government she manages to assemble and the demands awaiting it.
Economic ambitions meet public pressure
Morocco enters this political transition with an economy that has been drawing growing international investment.
The country has developed sizeable automotive, aerospace and renewable-energy industries, while its expanding industrial base has strengthened its position in African manufacturing.
Billions are also being committed to railways, roads, airports, tourism facilities and sporting infrastructure ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will host with Spain and Portugal.
Among the most conspicuous projects is the planned Grand Stade Hassan II near Casablanca, designed to hold around 115,000 spectators.
Yet large infrastructure projects tell only part of the story.
Jobs, household purchasing power and access to good public services remain far more immediate concerns for many Moroccans, particularly younger people.
That gives El Mansouri a difficult balancing act: maintaining Morocco’s investment-led development drive while showing that its benefits are reaching ordinary households.
Low turnout complicates the picture
The election also exposed a problem that cannot be solved by coalition mathematics.
Only 38.02 percent of registered voters turned out, according to the Interior Ministry’s national participation figure.
In other words, PAM emerged as the largest parliamentary party in an election in which well over half the electorate did not vote.
Low participation does not diminish the constitutional validity of the result, but it gives the incoming government another constituency to think about: Moroccans who stayed away altogether.
The challenge is particularly sharp among younger citizens. Across the continent, governments have been confronting more vocal demands from a generation focused on employment, living costs, corruption and the performance of public institutions.
As Africa Briefing has reported in its coverage of Gen Z political activism, Morocco has not been insulated from those pressures.
Coalition talks take centre stage
PAM’s 97 seats leave El Mansouri 101 short of the 198 needed for a majority in the 395-seat chamber.
That makes coalition partners essential. RNI, with 66 seats, and Istiqlal, with 65, are the biggest potential blocs, but the final deal will depend on political bargaining over policy, cabinet posts and the shape of the governing programme.
El Mansouri must first turn an election victory into a workable parliamentary majority. Only then can she move from coalition builder to head of government.
Her appointment has already made history.
What happens next will determine whether it becomes something more consequential: the start of a government capable of turning Morocco’s investment drive into improvements voters can see and feel.
