Morocco’s king appoints first woman head of government

King Mohammed VI appointed Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) leader Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Morocco’s head of government on September 29, tasking her with forming a new cabinet. She is the first woman appointed to the post. PAM won the largest share of seats in the September 23 parliamentary election, but fell short of a majority, leaving coalition negotiations central to forming a government. PAM secured 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives. The National Rally of Independents (RNI) won 66, and Istiqlal took 65. Under Morocco’s constitutional system, the king appoints the head of government from the party that wins the most seats. El Mansouri must now seek support from other parties to assemble a governing majority. The appointment was announced by the Royal Palace, which said the king had given El Mansouri the mandate to form a government. She is a lawyer and served as housing minister in the outgoing government and mayor of Marrakech. El Mansouri became PAM’s leader after joining its collective leadership, and the party has positioned itself as a counterweight to the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD).