Fatima El Mansouri has become Morocco’s first female prime minister after her party secured the highest number of seats in the country’s parliamentary elections.
King Mohammed VI appointed El Mansouri as prime minister on Tuesday and charged her with forming a new government, according to a statement from the Royal Palace.
Morocco operates as a constitutional monarchy, although the king retains substantial powers. The constitution provides for the monarch to appoint the head of government from the political party that wins the most seats in the House of Representatives.
The 50-year-old lawyer previously served as mayor of Marrakech before being appointed prime minister. She becomes the second woman to hold the position of prime minister in the Arab world, following Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.
Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and a prominent member of the king-aligned Authenticity and Modernity Party (AMP), was considered El Mansouri’s main rival for the position.
El Mansouri’s administration will oversee the final phase of Morocco’s $20 billion preparations for the 2030 World Cup, which the country will jointly host with Portugal and Spain.
Her government will also be responsible for implementing economic measures aimed at tackling widespread dissatisfaction among young people, an issue underscored by a mass border rush into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July and deadly Gen-Z-led protests last year.