King Mohammed VI received on Tuesday at the Royal Palace in Rabat, Mrs. Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, coordinator of the collective leadership of Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), whom the Sovereign appointed as Head of government, a first in Morocco’s modern history to have a woman as Chief of Government.
The Monarch entrusted her with forming a new government following the victory of her party in the latest parliamentary elections.
The appointment is unprecedented in Morocco, as Mrs. el Mansouri is set to become the country’s first woman to head the government. Her appointment would thus mark a historic milestone in the growing participation of Moroccan women in political and institutional leadership, a trend that has accelerated during the reign of King Mohammed VI, who spearheaded woman’s emancipation policy as evidenced as early as 2004 with the historic reform of the Moudawana and the appointment of women to senior governmental and diplomatic positions.
in 2007, four women were appointed to full ministerial portfolios, and women’s representation in government has continued to expand. The outgoing government, headed by Aziz Akhannouch, included seven women ministers, among them Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Morocco’s first woman to serve as economy and finance minister, as well as Leila Benali, Fatim-Zahra Ammor and Mansouri herself.
Women have also made increasing gains in senior state institutions. Zoulikha Nasri became the first female royal adviser in 2000. Zineb El Adaoui became the first woman to head Morocco’s Court of Auditors in 2021, while Amina Bouayach has headed the National Human Rights Council since 2018 and was reappointed in 2025.
In March 2025, Rahma Bourqia became the first woman to chair Morocco’s Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research.
Women’s representation has likewise grown in elected institutions. Badia Skalli and Latifa Bennani Smirès became the first Moroccan women elected to the House of Representatives in 1993. Following the 2026 legislative elections, women hold 107 seats in the 395-member chamber, supported in part by a system reserving 90 seats for women through regional lists.
Mansouri herself broke new ground in 2009 when she became the first woman to serve as mayor of a major Moroccan city, Marrakech. She later became coordinator of the PAM’s collective leadership in 2024.
Moroccan women have also held prominent positions in the judiciary and diplomatic service. The first female judge was appointed in 1961, while Princess Lalla Aicha became Morocco’s first woman ambassador when she was appointed to the United Kingdom in 1965. Other notable figures include diplomat Aziza Bennani, who served as Morocco’s ambassador and permanent delegate to UNESCO, and Halima El Ouarzazi, who became the first Moroccan woman to chair a committee of the UN General Assembly.
In the business sector, Miriem Bensalah Chaqroun became the first woman to head the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) in 2012.
Mansouri’s appointment therefore represents the latest development in a decades-long expansion of women’s presence across Morocco’s political, governmental, judicial, diplomatic and economic institutions.