Morocco: Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri forms the first government led by a woman, seven women out of 32

King Mohammed VI appointed the members of the government led by Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, the first woman to lead a government in the history of Morocco, on Friday, October 16, 2026. The list includes 32 names, according to the Moroccan economic website Médias24, which detailed its composition.

Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri was appointed head of government on September 29, 2026, a few days after the legislative elections. Her Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) came out on top in the vote, with about one million votes out of 15.8 million registered voters: its first victory since its founding in 2008, reports AFP. The Constitution requires the King to choose the head of government from the party that came in first, but the voting system makes an absolute majority out of reach. The PAM will govern with the Istiqlal, the USFP, and the PPS.

Seven women, but no sovereign ministries

Of the 32 officials, seven are women, according to Médias24. Excluding the head of government and the secretary-general, six of the thirty ministers and delegated ministers are women: Charafat Afailal for Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development, Najwa Koukouss for Family, Social Development and Equality, as well as Kouloub Faitah, Madiha Khayr, Fatima Saadi and Aïcha Guellaa. The most significant portfolios remain in the hands of the same men: Abdelouafi Laftit for the Interior, Nasser Bourita for Foreign Affairs, Abdellatif Ouahbi for Justice and Fouzi Lekjaa for Economy and Finance.

From lawyer in Marrakech to head of government

Born on January 3, 1976, in Marrakech, a lawyer trained in law at the University of Montpellier, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri was elected mayor of her city in June 2009, left it in 2015, returned in September 2021, before joining the government of Aziz Akhannouch the same year as Minister of National Planning, Urbanism and Housing. She becomes the second female head of government in the Arab world after Tunisia's Najla Bouden, according to AFP.

The schedule is tight: the 2027 draft finance bill must be submitted no later than October 20, 2026. The Justice and Development Party and the Federation of the Democratic Left will remain in the opposition. Furthermore, a group of unidentified hackers has accused the new head of government of having profited from her positions in land transactions in Marrakech; she denies these accusations, which she deems defamatory, and has initiated legal proceedings.

This election was the first since the Ceuta migration crisis in July and the deadly protests led by young people in 2025, recalls AFP. The fact that a woman has finally reached this position matters. What she does for schools and youth employment will matter just as much.