Morocco’s King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Zahra Mansouri as prime minister Tuesday, making her the first woman to lead the North African country’s government and tasking her with forming a new Cabinet following parliamentary elections.
Mansouri's Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won parliamentary elections on Sept. 23, with 97 seats.
The appointment was announced in a statement by the Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery.
The king appoints the prime minister from the party winning the most seats in the 395-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, while ministers are appointed on the premier’s proposal.
The statement said Mohammed received Mansouri, the coordinator of the PAM’s collective leadership, at the Royal Palace in Rabat and appointed her prime minister, tasking her with forming the new government.
The National Rally of Independents (RNI) came second with 66 seats, followed by the Istiqlal Party with 65 seats and the Justice and Development Party (PJD) with 54 seats.
A majority in the House requires at least 198 seats, opening the way for consultations to form a governing majority.
Mansouri heads the collective leadership alongside two other senior party figures - Mehdi Bensaid, minister of youth and culture, and Fatima Saadi.
She rose to prominence after the PAM’s establishment in 2008, becoming Marrakech’s first female mayor in 2009.
